Arts & Entertainment: Find something fun and different every week at Stadium Fare

Transitioning a summer event into a yearly tradition is easier said than done, but Stadium Fare looks to accomplish this while riding a wave of momentum into its second year.

Stadium Fare offers an alternative to the farmers markets that focus more on the artisan side of Tacoma, allowing creativity to flow in a safe, comfortable environment, providing both fine art and fine food from more than 20 vendors on the two final Saturdays of July, August and September from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the First Presbyterian Church across from Wright Park on the corner of second and 'G' streets.

“I’d like to encourage people to come out and see opportunities for vendors, people that want to play music or tell fortunes or tell jokes – anyone who wants to get in front of a broader group of people, we’d love to have them come out,” Stadium Fare co-founder Ethan Wing said.

The idea came about when Wing, a New York native, was reminded of Brooklyn market Smorgasburg and thought a similar event should be brought to Tacoma.

“Tacoma is a pretty creative little town. It’s filled with people that are being creative in all sorts of interesting ways, and they don’t have a ton of outlets. There’s no way to share creativity with the broader community. The more we get into this the more we realize in our heart of hearts that this is what [Stadium Fare] could be.

“I have a hard time imagining that we could do something like this in a different city. It’s small enough, it’s open enough that you can create things seemingly out of thin air, like this market. That simple fact speaks to the character of this city. We don’t have to deal with all the stuff Seattle has to deal with and ultimately that’s liberating,” Wing said.

This year, the Fare is looking to get bigger and better as it continues to expand. Each month will feature a different theme day on the final Saturday including Country Western in July, Happy Days in August and Mardi Gras in September.

“We are so excited to be able to do so much more than last year,” Fare Manager Nadine Larsson said in a press release. “We laid the groundwork for a great yearly event, and we’re looking forward to a season that will far exceed our expectations. Tacoma has so much talent and we love being able to provide an outlet for locals to showcase their goods and skills.”

Other events include an upcoming silent auction at the July 26 market and a scavenger hunt on a date to be determined to support local businesses.

“We had great first attendance, which kind of dropped off. We wanted to think up something fun and different every single week,” Marketing Director Leah Knoll said.

The fare already has 25 different vendors scheduled for the first Saturday of the season, and is expecting to add a few more contributors every week and is constantly on the lookout for more volunteers.

“We’re inventing it as we go. We spent a lot more time and effort to reach out to people so that they know were there,” Wing said.

The Fare saw a lot of success in 2013 due to the renaissance of Tacoma art that has taken place in recent years.

“The creativity, the willingness to be wrong the willingness to learn; it’s a very resilient population and people that understand community and the importance buy local. We are local, we’re the roots of local, come on down to Stadium Fare and water your roots,” Larsson said.