“How much for the Marlboro hat?” a girl asked at the tent of 505Curated, run by Dean Jones this past Friday.
Jones, a junior finance major at Mississippi State University, sells vintage clothing and was a vendor at the Maroon Market at Bulldog Bash for the second time this year.
“I would say the scale is a lot bigger, which is a great thing . . . It’s been great to see a lot of new faces and old faces from last year, too,” Jones said. “Honestly, I really like meeting new people and seeing people enjoy the things that I like seeing; I’m big into vintage, so it’s cool to see people find shared interest in what I love, which is what this is all about, sharing it with other people.”
From 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., while the local stage hosted bands downtown, 68 separate vendors set up shop in the streets. As the sun began to go down Friday, everything from apartment complexes to 3D prints to handmade mugs and more was being discussed, shown and sold at the booths.
Katie Bee, a senior marketing and management major, has served this past year as the assistant director of Bulldog Bash and worked to bring together the vendors for Maroon Market.
“The Starkville community is awesome and everyone deserves to see that, so that was a big motivation,” Bee said. “Coming from New Orleans, a city of art and city of love, I wanted people to have a little bit of that here so we do have some New Orleans vendors that are awesome. I think the most amazing thing has just been watching it all come together.”
Students were all around, with different organizations and businesses having their own setups. Habitat for Humanity, Student Association and the E-Center represented campus with their setups, while student businesses Magnebrite, Art By Kylie, OGDickey, 505Curated and more looked to sell their passion projects.
“Did you ever get yelled at as a kid for holding the flashlight wrong? This solves that problem,” Ben Brooks, MBA candidate and co-owner of Magnebrite, said to police officers who were curious about his setup.
“We’re actually running out of stock quite quickly.” Joseph Slack, junior political science major co-creator and co-owner of AMPI Brand (Animals Playing Musical Instruments) said as the sunset began to loom.
“You want to buy a beautiful Ludacris Bulldog Bash poster designed by a student, don’t you?” Tanner Payne, a junior software engineering major, said with a smirk at the Student Association table.
The Maroon Market also presented new opportunities to those participating.
Olivia Dickey is a senior graphic design maker and owner of OGDickey. Until Friday, she had never done a market before.
“I’ve been so excited,” Dickey said. “It’s really nice seeing everyone and getting to interact with everyone in the community, and just seeing people.”
As the stage was set and the sun began to fall, vendors at the Maroon Market served as the calm before the storm that is the biggest free outdoor concert in Mississippi. Laughs were shared, items were sold and opportunities were given to ambitious students and community members to make an effect on one of Starkville’s biggest days of the year.
After which, all there was left to do was celebrate.
