One of the top festivals and events in Ontario every year is underway with vendors hoping to sell their wares and make connections with customers.
Kempenfest 2019 has taken over Barrie’s waterfront and boasts more than 300 vendors looking to sell to the estimated 100,000 to 200,000 people that will descend on the walkways and rows of tents.
Vendors with everything from art, crafts, food, clothes and antiques will be out until Monday afternoon and while some have been coming for years, there are those who are new like Claudia Lemaire.
Lemaire came all the way from Quebec and has a wide assortment of antique tavern and “beer stuff”, as she referred to it when talking about her first visit to Kempenfest.
“This is my first year coming to Kempenfest, but I have been selling antiques for 15 years in Quebec,” said Lemaire. “I have made it out to a couple other shows in Ontario but my friend told me about this one and I am excited to see all the people who come here.”
For every Lemaire, there is a Dolphin Orion and his wife Gaia who have been selling their tie-dyed clothing at Kempenfest for 21 years. Orion said he keeps coming back due to the sheer number of people he sees in a day.
“It's one of the best shows we attend, and we go to a lot. It truly is massive as far as the stream of potential customers you see as a vendor at this event," said Orion. “If you can get one of every 100 people who walk by to buy something and more importantly, make a connection with them, that’s a success.”
Orion said that his stand full of bright colours is a hot spot for just about everybody and not just a 60’s crowd.
“We get everyone here from doctors and lawyers who see the bright colours as a way to unwind from the stress of the week to kids who go crazy over the designs and explosion of colour,” said Orion. “That is the cool thing about tie-dye is that it is timeless, it's always going to be a thing because it has actually not only become a classic clothing item, but people want to be happy and they get happy when they see these wonderful colours.”
Jason Didier moved to Barrie two years ago from Markham and found a cool item as soon as he got there.
“Just browsing today and just got here, but found this really cool book on the history of Markham which is great because that's where my girlfriend and I grew up,” said Didier. "It’s a great festival, its my second time here so I will definitely take it in and see what is available to buy.”
Kempenfest continues all weekend including Monday, with vendors open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.
