The second Pop-Up Kids Market, a community event that focuses on kids’ creativity and early business education, will be held in Blue Back Square on Oct. 15, 2022.

Pop-Up Kids Market at West Hartford Town Hall on Feb. 1, 2020. Courtesy photo

By Ronni Newton

Buzz ELM held its inaugural Pop-Up Kids Market at West Hartford Town Hall in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down activity of this type, but organizers are happy to announce a second kid- and teen-only vendor market, planned for Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, in Blue Back Square.

The event will be outdoors, and is scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The rain date is Sunday, Oct. 16.

West Hartford-based BuzzELM, was created in 2019 by residents and moms, Elyse Fox and Laura Barash. The Pop-Up Kids Market was launched as a way to provide a venue for young entrepreneurs to create, market, and sell their own products, displaying their original ideas and promoting their business endeavors.

“Young people are naturally curious and creative,” Barash said in a news release announcing the second event. “We want to inspire them to dream big and tap into their genuine entrepreneurial spirit.”

“It is so important that we can support a child’s skills and talents,” Fox added.

Nearly 2,000 customers attended the inaugural event, they said. All vendor spots were sold out, and it exceeded all expectations.

Thus far there are 64 kid vendor booths registered for the Oct. 15 market, including “self-made products to promote positivity and kindness through the creation of t-shirts, jewelry, journals, posters, and decals to wooden lanterns, baked goods, and framed artwork.”

Barash said Buzz ELM is “thrilled with the enthusiasm from the kids and impressed by their passion and determination to pursue their goals. On October 15th, this market will help these kids bring their business plan to fruition.”

The types of vendors registered thus far, according to Barash and Fox, include:

• Skin care products
• All kinds of jewelry (wire, rubber, weaving, beaded)
• Homemade lollipops
• T-shirts with positive sayings
• Tie-dye t-shirts
• Chocolate-covered strawberries
• Cake pops
• Linoleum prints
• Bath bombs
• Pet products
• Handmade candles
• Scarves
• Abstract paintings
• Photography greeting cards
• Handmade cloth napkins
• Pottery
• A variety of cookies

“We encourage people to come to the market and shop the amazing talent of our participating entrepreneurs,” Fox said, noting that guests will be “sure to be impressed.”

Applications to participate are still available and can be found, along with more information, on the website www.POPUPKIDSMARKET.com. Buzz ELM is still recruiting sponsors and that information is available on the website as well.

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