Encore! The melting pot of cheer, culture and couture is back. With its maiden summer edition attracting substantial footfall, Olam Flea Market is pulling no punches this time with its two-day special Technopark edition, starting this Monday. And all put in place by a group of twenty-somethings.
“We decided to come out with this after a slew of queries from the tech hub since many techies missed out on our May edition. Also, last time, we couldn’t reach out to Kazhakkuttam area. This is a perfect opportunity for us to bring a slice of the vibrant Olam idea to Technopark as well,” says Anina Elizabeth Jacob, a creative director with Olam.
The mela that seamlessly mixes business with art and fun is the brainchild of a bunch of enterprising youngsters from several walks of life, all based in the city. For the first such flea market in the city that was pieced together in May, Trivandrum Golf Club played host to the riot of colours, which had an estimated 9,000 visitors. Although the concept of a flea market — traditionally just a street market peddling second-hand goods — is nothing new, the team behind Olam says they aim to add a dash of belongingness by tapping into the “emotion called Trivandrum” and catering to a bubbling zeitgeist.
“The idea of a flea market has undergone a drastic change over the years, though it’s something new to the city. Olam is more like a carnival than merely a town fair in the traditional sense of the term. It’s a trendy platform to showcase and transact art, a place to celebrate a forward-thinking creative culture and to enjoy some special food, all with the embellishment of music,” says Tony Cyriac, a co-founder of Olam.
If the May edition was more about art and fashion, Olam promises a more crowd-engaging spectacle this time, revolving around the theme of ‘open-air street market’.
“We have incorporated fun and games and outdoor activities like treasure hunt and spot games, thus improving on the maiden event,” points out Anina, an illustrator with Toonz Media Networks. Although the team chose the Club House at Technopark as the venue, keeping the young and vibrant crowd in mind, the organisers clarify that the event is open to all.
The extravaganza serves as a fitting springboard for up-and-coming artistes and craftsmen to showcase their talent, be it culinary, art, fashion or music. With an opportunity to connect directly with customers in an atmosphere fostering common interests, it’s a conducive place to reach out and grow. “Most of the vendors becoming a part of Olam usually sell their products or works online and do have a customer base. So, Olam lets them come face-to-face with their customers and followers. Also, they get to see other entrepreneurs, helping in exchange of ideas. It works like a chain reaction,” says Anina.
Ultimately, it’s their day job that proves to be the strong point for the Olam team. With about 12 core members and each one contributing their best in line with their forte, logistics and marketing become pure fun, not to mention highly efficient.
“We have computer engineers, civil engineers, musicians, designers, social media marketing managers and so on in our close-knit group, all working overtime in their respective area of expertise. But a large part of the credit goes to the many volunteers, mostly college students, who have shown great drive,” she adds.
Careful screening ensures an eclectic and authentic mix of vendors and products on offer. Out of the 15-odd food stalls that lay out a smorgasbord of options, from home-baked cakes to Asian cuisine to special Malabar biriyanis, eight will have live counters at Technopark edition. The organisers have also made it a point not to have repeat products or vendors from the same field to avoid competition and recurrence. Thus, apart from a bunch of popular artists and vendors who struck the right chord in the previous edition, like Babushka, an artiste-duo specialising in handmade wooden accessories, some newcomers will share the space in the 45-odd stalls at a lit-up Club House, a scale-down from the 70-odd stalls in the inaugural edition. However, the highlight of this edition will be live performances by eight bands in the two days.
Meticulous design
As the ‘art director’ of Olam, Abrar Ali has his task cut out. An architect, Abrar is busy conceptualising promo artworks and the venue décor. “The idea is to design even individual stalls in line with our ‘outdoorsy’ market theme. Even the materials and painting colours are chosen to blend in with the overall theme,” he says.
The team has left no stone unturned in the marketing side, but going for the “softest”of approaches. Thus it was no surprise when many techies were of late greeted by a multi-hued ‘pinwheel’, something that has remained a lingering imagery associated with Olam.
“It’s something that has made a comeback with us,” says Anina with a laugh. “It’s cute, easily relatable toy, symbolic of simple craft. Many think pinwheels are for children but it was lovely to see youngsters making a beeline for catching hold of one during our promo events,” she adds. It is this level of simplicity of creativity and nostalgic togetherness that underpins Olam. Busking was another way of gathering crowds that Olam employed to spread the word, with volunteers and musicians from the team fanning out to the nooks and and corners of the city, of course, pinwheels in hand.
TheTechnopark edition of Olam Flea Marketis open from 4 pm to 10 pm on Monday and Tuesday. Tickets can be booked from www.collabo.in
