On April 5, Banbury Place hosted its annual Banbury Spring Market, showcasing multiple small businesses, live music and food trucks. 

This year’s event was the first time that Ashley Wittling Fine Art was a vendor at the Banbury Market, but Wittling has been creating her art for over 20 years.

“I’ve been creating for well over 20 years — yeah, a long time,“ Wittling said. “This is actually my first time (at Banbury), vending, which is very exciting.”

Wittling said she was eager to see all the people at the event. 

“I’m excited to see all the people,” Wittling said. “Just seeing some familiar faces and maybe making some new friends.”

Wittling designs a multitude of different prints, often creating whimsical watercolor illustrations inspired by flora and fauna. 

Seller Nikki Feldy, or FetchingFeldys, said she is excited to be back out selling and for future markets that take place outside, where she can meet everyone’s dogs.

“I’m happy just being out again because in the winter months, there aren’t very many sales, and now, at the beginning of spring, we have more and more sales,” Feldy said. “I’ll get to be outside soon, and I’ll get to pet dogs and actually meet them, which is my favorite part.”

Piper Ewald, a first-time attendee, said she liked seeing the variety of shops, but more specifically, the food.

“I love looking at everyone’s different creations, seeing other crocheters’ works,” Ewald said. “But I am most excited to try (the) cafe and food trucks.”

Outside of the event, in the parking lot, there were two different food trucks serving food to attendees, as well as a few other food stops in the building. 

Ewald said her favorite find of the day was Tessy’s Popcorn Delights, where gourmet popcorn was sold. 

“There were so many different flavors to choose from,” Ewald said. “They all looked delicious, but I had to get the bag that had the M&Ms inside.”

To prepare for events like this, Wittling said she had a lot of small tasks but thankfully already had some stock from previous markets.

“I did have a lot of leftover inventory,” Wittling said. “But my major prop was just a lot of packaging, pricing and printing prints.”

On the other hand, Feldy said that while preparing for events like this, she had lots of sewing to do, as well as other smaller tasks. 

“A lot of sewing — a lot of time on that,” Feldy said. “And just organizing and prepping, and making sure I have cash for people that pay with cash.”

While Banbury Place had different tables with people selling their creations, they also had permanent businesses with rooms that businesses could rent.

Feldy has sold her dog bandanas and other creations at about three of Banbury’s different markets. 

“I’ve done this at least for a whole year, so I’ve been to three of their other markets before,” Feldy said. “There’s always a lot of good people from the community coming by, and it’s been a good time.”

Boggess can be reached at boggestm7197@uwec.edu.