HILLSVILLE, Va. – Four days of rain put a damper on this year’s Hillsville Memorial Day Flea Market, leaving vendors to battle shrinking crowds and soggy conditions throughout the weekend.
“It’s just the weather that killed it this year,” said Janet Taylor, a flea market vendor. “It was four days of rain. And that’s been a real issue.”
The Memorial Day market, which began in 2004, draws thousands of visitors from across the country. The event’s older counterpart — the Labor Day Flea Market — has been running since 1967. While both markets attract large crowds, vendors say the Memorial Day event is still growing.
Vendors push through the weather
For many vendors, a tough weekend is part of the job. Suzanne Hardy said she works 45 weekends a year and called this one of her worst for weather — but she isn’t dwelling on it.
“That’s okay. It’s bound to happen sooner or later and you make the best of things,” Hardy said.
Vendor Yuderka Whyte said Thursday and Friday were nearly lost to the rain. “Thursday and Friday we don’t sell nothing for the rain, but yesterday for a little bit better,” Whyte said.
Ashley Whitsitt, in her second year at the market, said Sunday’s crowd was noticeably thinner than the day before. “You can even see today it’s a little less busy and people are packing up due to the weather coming in later this afternoon,” Whitsitt said. “Yesterday we had a pretty steady flow of people coming in and out.”
Vendor Berkeley Blanks said preparation made a difference. “Because we came early and actually had the tent here set up for us by another vendor, we were prepared, and we did well,” Blanks said.
Memorial Day market seen as growing
Despite the rough weekend, several vendors said they see long-term momentum building — in part due to new leadership at the VFW across the street, which helps organize the event.
“The VFW across the street have some new leadership over there, and I think they have some positive ideas,” Blanks said. “I think the show now will start growing because of the new leadership.”
Blanks contrasted that with what he described as past mismanagement. “The management years ago really wasn’t positive. They couldn’t see the forest with the trees,” he said.
Taylor noted the Memorial Day event still lags behind the Labor Day market in foot traffic — and said weather plays a bigger role over the longer weekend. “There’s a lot more foot traffic on Labor Day. And occasionally, it might rain, but it’s only going to rain one day. It’s not going to rain all four,” Taylor said.
Vendors plan to return
Despite the weather, vendors said they plan to come back.
“Oh, absolutely. I’ll be back. You’ll see me again,” Hardy said.
Whitsitt, whose fiancée’s family has attended the market for years, said the experience has lived up to the reputation. “They only speak great things. So it’s been great to come out for the last two years,” she said.
Blanks said the people — both visitors and fellow vendors — keep him coming back. “I meet people from all over the United States and all over the world coming here and I enjoy the people. I enjoy my family of other vendors that are here,” he said.
The next Hillsville Flea Market is the Labor Day event, which runs Aug. 29 through Sept. 1.