‘Really fun’ vintage market with 15 food vendors returns to Tacoma this Saturday
The annual Fieldhouse Flea vintage market and food festival at the University of Puget Sound returns this Saturday for the first time since 2019.
Sponsored by the UPS Women’s League, the event debuted in 1968 as more of a “rummage sale” inspired by a trip to Paris, where such eclectic markets abounded, according to market chair Lynn Raisl. About 2013, she said, it expanded to showcase local artists, makers and food businesses.
The event was canceled in 2020 and 2022; in 2021, they organized an online auction.
This year, a $5 entry fee ($7.50 advance online, free for kids under 5) goes straight to a scholarship fund.
By 2018, the market was raising upwards of $30,000, according to the Women’s League, which was founded in 1900 and today consists of alumni and their spouses, current and retired university staff, friends and parents.
In 1968, the admission fee was 50 cents, garnering just over $3,200 that supported the “social rooms” at Kilworth Chapel on campus in Tacoma’s North End. The market switched to a scholarship fund in 1982, according to Kim McDowell, the market’s historian and director of career and employment services at the university.
Of more than 60 vendors signed up, the March 18 event features local and regional vintage collectors (15 in total) selling everything from vinyl records to Pyrex and clothing.
Jewelry makers include Tacoma’s Splendor + Stone, Graceful Moon Studios and Sanford & Daughter, which focuses on copper pieces salvaged from Old City Hall’s clock tower. Local shops like Stocklist Goods and Two Bird Eco Shop will also have booths, as well as a few candle makers, letterpress and printmakers, plus clothing brands including PolyRev and Sweetpea & Boy.
On the food front, sweet treats include:
▪ Hilltop’s Hunnybun Bakery with vegan Pop-Tarts, cookies and more
▪ Fully Charged Snacks, a Tacoma-based, woman-owned company that produces allergy-friendly snacks like mini muffins and brownie bites
▪ The Brown Pecan, a Tacoma-based, Black-owned candied pecan brand
▪ Girl Loves Cake Desserts, known for her macarons and canelé
Civic Roasters will satisfy your coffee needs, while Liberte Du Monde Gourmet will have an array of salts and spice blends. Stock up also on hot sauce from Bootsie’s Sauce Co. and pickled stuff from Purdy Organics.
For lunch, stop by the food court curated by Kris Hay, who works in communications at UPS but is best known around town under her food-focused brand, Tacoma Aroma Flavor. Vendors here include:
▪ Sixth Avenue’s Gateway to India
▪ Jan Parker Cookery and her freshly prepared Filipino fare
▪ Komadre Kombucha, whose owner Julie Davidson is a UPS grad
▪ POP Kettle Corn Co.
▪ Greedy Vegan, a catering business with plant-based specials
“It’s just a really fun, community event,” Raisl said in a phone call last week, adding that vendors are largely based in Tacoma and the South Sound.
FIELDHOUSE FLEA AT UPS TACOMA
▪ Where: University of Puget Sound Memorial Fieldhouse, 1500 N Warner St., Tacoma
▪ When: March 18, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
▪ What to know: vintage and makers market with 15+ food vendors; $5 entry at the door, $7.50 via Eventbrite to avoid lines; more info and full booth list at pugetsound.edu/fleamarket
