What You Missed This Weekend: Get Rad at the Friday Night Bazaar

The term bazaar conjures an image of hustle and bustle – chaos, community, craft … it may seem out of the ordinary in a city like Denver, but it’s part of everyday life overseas, especially in the Middle East. An open-air market, a network of merchants, of crafters; an opportunity for collaboration and positive energy.

The folks behind Denver’s outdoor, sustainable market The Big Wonderful are now bringing firsthand experience and inspiration from GOA, India, and Istanbul to RiNo. Josh Sampson is the brains behind the entire operation bringing it to fruition. He shared with Innovators Peak, “These nightlife marketplaces are the most attended attractions in the ancient communities and, in GOA, it acted as a centralized meeting place for everyone in the community to come for necessities and unwind after a long day.

It truly was one of the coolest experiences we’ve ever been a part of and we were eager to bring the concept with us back to Brooklyn … but we got relocated to The Mile High City.”

The big move West wasn’t going to stop Sampson and her crew, and upon settling in Denver they realized there wasn’t a better location for the Bazaar, “there was nothing like the marketplaces we encountered overseas in Denver, so we immediately got moving on the planning of the Big Wonderful.”

While The Big Wonderful was gaining steam – quickly – the Friday Night Bazaar was already coming to fruition. “It just took time to find the right location.” And with a little searching and patience, a renovated warehouse in RiNo became the home for the Bazaar. And the space couldn’t be more suited for such an event. It’s as though the large, barrel roof ceiling, dual-garage doors, and large adjacent lot perfect for food trucks, vendors, etc. was built for a marketplace.

It’s no doubt there’s an enormous amount of work that goes in to preparing for each Bazaar – it’s an amazing opportunity for vendors to showcase their work and an even better way for the Denver community to experience the truly unique offerings of local businesses. So, what’s involved behind-the-scenes?

Sampson breaks it down, “We’ve had such an overwhelmingly amazing response for vendor applications this year that it has been tricky selecting merchants for the week. Essentially, we want to get an understanding of the company’s vibe and mission. Our main goal with Bazaar is to make sure everything is LOCALIZED. Also, we ask each vendor to conceptualize a snapshot of how they would see their store looking like one day and we start from there.

Basically, we’re just here to help turn their dream into reality by facilitating a place to showcase their hard work. Whether it’s food or art or vintage goodies – it’s about the passion, and hopefully, the vendors will bring their best work each week to Friday Night Bazaar.”

As so many great vendors are emerging in Denver’s handmade scene, the collaborative efforts are one of the best parts of the Bazaar (and really, the Mile High City in general).

The motto of Denver seems to be, “it’s not about competition … it’s about collaboration.” As Sampson notes, “Vendors help each other out, give support, and share advice through their experiences on how to become a successful small business owner. Being an entrepreneur is NOT an easy task … but the more people trying to turn their dreams into reality means more insight on how to go about the process successfully.”

The Friday Night Bazaar provides a platform for others to capitalize on exposing their passions – and it provides an unique place for residents to take in all the local crafts, food, and of course … beer.

On that note, there’s a component of the Friday Night Bazaar that is guaranteed to be exclusive to Denver. No need to travel overseas for this – BEER PAWN! Cleaning out your closet? Rummaging through random crap? We all know one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. And the Bazaar capitalizes on your unwanted items with one of the most coveted of Denver crafts – beer.

“When you pawn something, you never get the money you thought you’d get…so why not have more fun with it!? Get rid of your old items or trade them for other items OR just come to party and leverage them as a way to pay for your drinks for the night! This is a win-win situation in our opinion!” shares Sampson.

With that, come join the eclectic group of vendors, enjoy delicious food and beer, and listen to live music at the Friday Night Bazaar located at 3530 Brighton Blvd. And it’s EVERY Friday night from 6:00pm - 12:00am, featuring different vendors and bands each time, so they have your Friday nights covered from here on out.

by Addie Levinsky