ATL Chinatown Market Fest ’24 Review

The first ever Market Fest hosted by Blooms Emporium and Atlanta Chinatown for their 36th anniversary! Did you know they’re the oldest Chinese grocery establishment in the South East? I just learned that myself!

I had a lot of fun. Sales went well for a four hour event, I made enough to cover the surprise AC cost I had earlier that week, haha. I had no sales performance expectations since I’d never vended at Chinatown before, nor in front of food courts in general. But rain or shine, I’d consider it a win to eat at the Chinatown food court.

I got flat beef noodles from China Kitchen, delicious!

I first learned about the anniversary event on Instagram from follow Andrew Blooms, local visual artist and tattooer. In mid-July he announced his collaboration with ATL Chinatown, and that they were searching for local artists and DJs to be part of their first ever outdoor market. I was thrilled, applied right away, and encouraged some of my peers to do so as well. It’s been a goal of mine to get involved with the Asian-American side of art things, and here was an event right during my availability!

Waited and on August 1st we heard back from Andrew! Communications before the event were primarily through him in emails. He gave us a basic run-down of the social media campaign schedule and provided promotional graphics for us to share. He took the time to give us personalized graphics after asking us to provide our best examples of work or portraits. I really appreciated the collaborative approach and brand cohesion. And I got the sense that Blooms and ATL Chinatown were clearly communicating between themselves as well. Then the week of we got the load-in details email, we’re good to go!

The atmosphere was lively, with blasting DJ music and a consistent flow of traffic. I couldn’t tell who was there for their weekly groceries versus the anniversary celebration, but generally everyone seemed excited to be there. The food court was certainly popping when I went inside for heat breaks. Of my summer events this year, there was the greatest range of ages: parents with kids, young adult friends, and elderly shoppers. Times were busiest right around lunch, from about 1 – 2 pm. My smaller items, stickers and decals, moved the most for this crowd, however, I did also sell more Riso prints than usual, more on this later. I’m glad I sold a few shirts, considering there was a live screen-printing shirt demo right at the entrance??? I missed out on seeing them, but wow, that is so cool!!!

Setup-wise, I was proud of how I condensed for a 6 foot table. I wanted to keep in mind the event was both short and outdoors, so optimization was key to prevent heat exhaustion. It was very helpful that ATL Chinatown provided chairs and tables for us vendors! In addition, I removed one wooden display and downsized inventory, no clearance items. I was worried that putting my Risograph prints into boxes would draw attention away from them, but to my surprise they seemed to do best at this summer event! Was it the boxes, or their central location that drew attention? I also had a thought, what if bringing limited stock around local events is another way to revolve designs in addition to… making new designs? Haha, I’m wondering if this technique could help me keep my booth more “fresh” without need to speed up art production.

And my hubris was challenged once again for outdoor events. I keep wanting to make print walls work outdoors, but the wind had other plans when one of my print walls was blown straight off the photo stand! Luckily, nobody was hurt, but it’s a sign that I shouldn’t keep attempting it, at least not without heavy metal grid walls. Also, just because an event is short, doesn’t mean I should bring less water.

Dumplings and eggplant from Northern China Eatery.

Originally, I hoped I could have some time to check out the retail shops in Chinatown, but I was so tired from the heat! I’ll need to make some time specifically for shopping, maybe make a whole Chamblee day of it. Instead, friends and I stopped by Northern China Eatery for their famous soup dumplings! All-in-all, a good day, both as an artist and a person.

Billie’s Vendor Rating

Food⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Foot Traffic⭐⭐⭐⭐
Attendee Vibes⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Restrooms⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pokémon GO⭐⭐⭐⭐
Heat⭐⭐⭐

So all-in-all, yes! I’d love to do events with both, either, or, ATL Chinatown and Blooms Emporium! There was word that Chinatown may be doing more events in the future, perhaps as soon as September for the Autumn Festival???

And I’m hoping to do apply to more Asian-themed markets and want to create more art celebrating my Chinese-American heritage! I do have a few designs in the works that I may launch a crowd funding campaign for… hopefully… by Lunar New Year 2026??? Stay tuned~!

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