Live music. Food trucks. Art. Trendy clothes. Handmade jewelry. One Saturday a year. This bundle of beautifully diverse chaos goes by the name of Localtopia.
Localtopia is like Saturday Morning Market on steroids, but not as focused on produce. I first experienced this event last year and it left such a great impact on me. Although it was cold and rainy, I had so much fun! My friends and I talked about it for days. It was such a fun and positive atmosphere; all the local vendors were so kind and passionate about showing me their work and that led to my improvement of getting a greater sense to the community. I got the chance to discover great bands such as “Dan Orlando”. I fell in love with their sound and music as a whole. There was also a cool bus filled entirely with books, a tent with painted surfboards, and custom made shirts with phrases that only those from St. Petersburg would enjoy and understand.
Even though last year’s Localtopia set the bar pretty high, this year’s event surpassed it with flying colors. It was a beautiful 70 degrees outside and sunny, with smiling faces of people of all ages everywhere you turned. There was something there for everyone- skateboard ramps, essential oils, jewelry, art pieces, baby clothes, and much more! This time around there were way more vendors present (probably due to the better weather). I was thinking since Saturday Morning Market was happening at the same time as Localtopia that there wouldn’t be as many people but boy was I wrong. We were packed like a can of sardines, only being able to move a couple inches at a time. It was a big hit.
While my friend and I were there, we got to play ping pong, watch little kids paint on a bus, write what makes us happy on fabric to tie on a fence, hula hoop, and buy wish bracelets to support a company that fed the homeless. I can’t express the sense of happiness I have felt each time I have attended this event; I would definitely recommend anyone in the area to experience it at least once in their life. You won’t regret it.
HCXOXO,
Shayla Fajardo