By Gabriella Oakley, Kim Ilkowski, and Gabe Salazar
About the event:
The Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market opens its doors three times a year to welcome hundreds of people. The two-day event is held in the historic Roebling Machine Shop in Trenton, New Jersey and is growing. The photos above were from the April 2016 and October 2016 event and showcase the crowds of people that the flea market brings.
According to an article on NJ.com, there is emphasis of DIY at the flea market, which is fitting with the experimental punk rock genre. The Trenton venue, City Gardens, closed in the 90’s and the flea market gives Trenton the opportunity to showcase local bands.
The first Trenton Punk Flea Market poster.
The most recent Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market poster.
The Trenton Punk Flea Market has been around for roughly 3 years. We can see the growth of the Flea Market from the posters alone: the recent October 2016 event featured 200 vendors.
Punk-rock scene Revived at Trenton flea Market (October 2016 Event) Originally posted on The Signal, The College of New Jersey’s paper).
More than 1,000 people — many of whom wore black clothing and flaunted colorful hair — filled the historic Roebling Wire Works factory in Trenton, N.J., on Saturday, Oct. 29, and Sunday, Oct. 30, for the Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market. A dozen food trucks and more than 200 vendors showcased their finest wares as guitar riffs floated in the background.
“The mission of founder Joseph Kuzemka was to create a flea market experience in his hometown that is unlike any other,” according to the Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market website.
This marked Michael Brodka’s second time selling at the Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market. Brodka said he was impressed by the steady crowd streaming into the event.
“Hopefully, it’ll keep going like that throughout the day,” Brodka said.
Melissa Coulter attended the last Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market in April and returned again this weekend.
“We loved it, so we came back,” Coulter said. “This is one of the best sale events.”
According to the Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market website, vendors at the event hailed from eight states and sold everything from clothing and jewelry to artwork and antiques. Many of the items for sale were handmade.
One vendor known by the nickname Serenity sold handmade candles adorned with Halloween designs and glitter at this year’s festivities.
In addition to a plethora of punk-rock memorabilia, nerd-themed goods seemed to be quite popular. The Whimsy Menagerie store displayed jewelry featuring Harry Potter wands and accessories.
The other 200 vendors sold illustrations, vintage toys, anime goods, comic books and candles.
“The people here are just terrific,” said Linda Catz, a vendor at White Kitchen Candle Company. “The kind of people that come here are people from everywhere. People from all walks of life. I think that’s what makes it so fun.”
