Cream City Vintage Fest, a new vintage festival with over 200 vendors, is coming to the Baird Center this August. The inaugural event will be a flea, antique and jewelers market all rolled into one.
“There’s a little bit of everything and everyone will find something to enjoy,” said Sawyer.
Founders Aidan Sison and Destiny Sawyer began their online thrift business to make a bit of money during the pandemic. At first, the 19-year-old college students went through their closets and sold clothes for their friends to buy, but their business eventually gained traction in Milwaukee.
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Sison and Sawyer began vending at markets in Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay and Oshkosh as ThriftKist. After much success in these markets selling secondhand items, they felt they could create something bigger and combine vendors from these communities across Wisconsin into one large fest.
Sison and Sawyer credit much of their success to the supportive and experienced members of the secondhand selling community who aided their growth.
“When we first came in, we didn’t have a clue what we were doing. More experienced vendors were so supportive of us, giving us tips and advice, and it means a lot when you’re young,” said Sison.
In the future, ThriftKist hopes to start a monthly or seasonal market series and establish a greater thrift community in the Midwest. All of Sison and Sawyer’s efforts are done with the planet in mind.
“We are really big on sustainability, that’s a major reason why we’re here. Considering what the earth is going through, if we can do something, this our small way of doing it,” said Sison.
You can check out Cream City Vintage Fest on Aug. 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Baird Center.
