Art and Design Market - Innsbruck
The Art and Design market takes place approximately twice a year in Innsbruck, but we have never been there before. This time it visited Innsbruck on the first weekend of November (3.-4. November 2018) and we went there on Saturday. It took place at the VAZ Hafen, located on the outskirts of Innsbruck, but easily reached by bus or even on foot, like we did.
We definitely recommend going there early, as it gets really packed around lunchtime and the afternoon. If you are looking for a place to save money and buy cheap goods, you are definitely in the wrong place, but if you are looking for cool handcrafted and sustainable stuff, this is definitely the place to be. Also, it is great to get in touch with the sellers, which most of the time are also the producers of the goods you are looking at.
If you want to buy dainty, handmade jewellery this is the right address, also if you look for stuff made out of unusual materials - like bags made out of paper (that can even be washed with a washing machine), t-shirts made out of corc, jars with extra slots for dressing or oats in the top, jewellery made out of cement, and, of course, food (you know you're finally growing up when you're getting all excited about different flavours of salt). We can guarantee you will be caught by surprise by a lot of the products. The producers are also very innovative, for example, bags with key slots on the back, so they don't get stolen easily. This is just one of the great ideas that was bought by us immediately. Another very cute product we bought is a paper advent calendar is made out of 24 little gondolas you can fill by yourself. You can use it many years in a row (we definitely will) and it doesn't even need any glue as you fold the gondolas, which takes up some time but is definitely worth it!
Like we said at the beginning, the products are not cheap, but that's a good thing! Maybe you have already noticed that cheap fashion is also fast fashion. If a bag costs you 20 €, you use it a few months and then forget about it and buy a new one, but if you really put thought into buying something, because it did cost you a lot of money, it immediately is of greater value to yourself. Also, it is a great way to support smaller companies who look after their employees (often, those companies even consist of only a handful of people), instead of huge chains who couldn’t care less about working conditions. Many of these craftsmen also have an online shop or are trying to get one started. Something that made us very happy: The owner of Schwedenmädchen bags, told us she'd like to set up an online store, but can't as she's simply not able to create a big stock of products as they always sell out immediately. Great to know that some things really are produced for people to use and cherish, and not to spend months or even more in a warehouse only to be forgotten weeks after they have been bought.
As we already said, the Art and Design market takes place about twice a year, and will be coming back to Innsbruck in March, and so will we. Meanwhile it is touring through Austria so check out their website to find out when they will be in a city close to you.
