Hello. This is Shiba from the design department.
This time I would like to introduce "MARKESTA," a market event that gathers local quality products and which I have been involved in, mainly through design, for the past two years or so. I would like to focus on "MARKESTA on Ranbu Town," which was held last Golden Week.
What is MARKESTA?
MARKESTA is a market event that brings together creators and shops active mainly in the Shonan area of Kanagawa Prefecture, including Fujisawa, Kamakura, and Chigasaki, and is a portmanteau of Market (English) and Festa (Italian).
The management team consists of three friends: myself, Takahashi Sohei, and Koyanagi Yota.
Takahashi is a photographer from Kamakura City, and the initiator of this event. He also took the main photo for my previous self-introduction article . While working in advertising, he is very active, traveling overseas several times a year to take photos. During his stay in Australia, he was impressed by the fun of the markets held in the city, and when he returned to Japan, he wondered if he could hold a similar market in his hometown of Shonan, and this event was born.
The other Mr. Koyanagi is originally from Kamakura and is a founding member of Lafayette, a 15-year-old apparel brand from Fujisawa that now has a store in New York. Lafayette has participated as a vendor almost every time since the first event, and is extremely popular, attracting many fans.
In the early days of the event, a total of eight events were held at the restaurant " FreeCulture " at the north exit of Fujisawa Station. The event took place on the first and second floors of the restaurant, on the terrace, and on the road in front of the restaurant, and six to seven stalls were set up, with familiar faces from the organizers and shops coming to visit.
From the second event onwards, I was asked to design and produce flyers, and while I was mainly involved in design, I naturally began helping out with the running of the event, such as decorating the venue and carrying out various preparations and cleanup.
Scene from the event at Global Kitchen FreeCulture
In 2017, it was decided to hold the event at the antique furniture store " Mar-Vista Garden " in Chigasaki, and since we could use the store and the garden, the scale of the event was expanded from previous years, and the number of participating stores was also increased to 14. We thought that the expansion in scale would be an opportunity to attract more customers and expand the content, so we wanted to promote the event more extensively and make it more exciting, and so we decided to put in place a system where the current three people would take the lead in creating the event in earnest.
March 2017: Event held at Mar-Vista Garden
September 2017: Event held at Mar-Vista Garden
After two events at Mar-Vista Garden, we felt that our awareness was gradually spreading, and then we received an offer to hold the event in Ranbu-gai, a shopping street in front of the south exit of Fujisawa Station.
First time held in a public place
The new venue will be the " Ramburugai " shopping street behind the OPA fashion building at the south exit of JR Fujisawa Station. It is a place lined with restaurants and bars, and is more of a nightlife district, so there are relatively few people during the day, even on holidays.
However, we could hold the event on a public road, turning it into a pedestrian precinct. We were excited at the opportunity to expand the scale of the event that we had been attracting through personal connections, and to allow more people to experience it.
The Ranburu Shopping District, which had taken an interest in MARKESTA, shared their hopes that by holding an event that would attract attention in the shopping district, they could improve their image and increase the number of members.
The three of them got together at the end of January to share the request from the shopping district and discuss the scale on which the event could be held and a concrete image of what it could look like.
From then on, we set up a meeting at least once a week and decided on what we could while exploring. The first date decided on was 4/29 (Sun), the start of Golden Week, which makes you feel the early summer. If the weather is fine, it should be the best weather with dry, warm sunshine.
With this goal in mind, a preparation period of about three months, which seemed long but was actually short, began.
To hold a local event
As this was the first time the event was held on the streets, there were many things that had to be done by trial and error, from the big picture to the small details, such as arranging the necessary equipment and decorations and consolidating the participating stores, and many issues ended up being pushed to the back end.
What's significantly different from previous events is that because the shopping district is involved, it can be promoted as an event with a highly public nature, and therefore can be promoted as one that involves the local community.
So, we consulted with many people involved in local events and city council members, and in the end, we were able to hold the event with the support of Fujisawa City. While we were grateful for this, it made it easier to post announcements in public places, but we also had to think hard about whether we needed to take a different approach to poster design than we had done before.
Overseeing the design of the event
My main role is to create posters that will be the main announcements while collecting exhibitors. This time, I placed emphasis on "publicness" when designing the announcements, and started by creating a pop and easy-to-understand design. When I shared it with the members and consulted with acquaintances who work in other design jobs, I received a response that it was quite good.
However, after looking at it more closely, it was realized that it was far from the original atmosphere of the event, and some opinions were raised that it would be better to bring out the color of the event more. In the end, three proposals were made, and the third one was finally decided as the one that captured the color of the event so far.
On the left is the first poster design we created (production was stopped midway), and on the right is the flyer we actually distributed.
In addition, there are many other things to do, such as flyers, entrance banners, printing original market tote bags, signs with store names, promotional stickers, etc. It will be even more difficult to create something that will give a fresh impression without straying from the image of the event you have created so far.
Original printed market tote bags sold on the day
Banner decorating the festival entrance
Promotional stickers distributed on the day. They were popular with children.
The store sign was hand-painted by my friend, the designer Kaneko-san.
The end result was the design shown in the image. By sprinkling in the things I had built up until then and getting help from another designer when there wasn't enough time, I was able to create the right atmosphere, and the result was great.
However, this time we started by trial and error, and there were many things we could not achieve. In terms of design, by getting the backing of Fujisawa City, we had the possibility to put up posters in the city's JR, Enoshima Electric Railway, and Odakyu Line stations, on the streets, and in public facilities, and although we applied for permission, we were unable to put up the posters due to lack of time. Next time, we would like to try to approach the public in this way by speeding up the booking of exhibitors and producing announcements more quickly, and expand the range of visitors to a wider area and liven up the event. To achieve this, we will have to face new challenges, such as differentiating the design.
The event was a huge success
On the day of the event, the street is usually quiet during the day, even on holidays, but a lot of people flocked in just after 11am when the event opened, and by noon the street was overflowing with people. I was a bit worried about what would happen, but that feeling disappeared in an instant, and I felt like I was dreaming from start to finish.
More than anything, we were able to welcome many people of all ages, creating a lively atmosphere that was even more than we had hoped for. There were no problems, everyone was smiling, enjoying shopping, having lively conversations, and children running around. We were able to fully feel the power of the city of Fujisawa.
If you come from Fujisawa Station, you will be greeted by an original banner.
Traffic peaks in the afternoon
The man in the blue shirt on the left is Koyanagi, the man in the navy shirt on the right is Takahashi, and I'm visible behind Koyanagi.
In addition to clothes and miscellaneous goods, there are also stores that sell organic vegetables and fresh flowers.
Fujisawa City's mascot "Fujikyun" visited the event. He happened to be attending a nearby event and decided to drop by.
The picture frame shop that decided to join two days before was also very popular.
The jointly-hosted Irish pub " MATTARI " will have a rest area and a DJ booth to keep the excitement going.
Custom-made icing cookies in the shape of the letter "M" from the event's title will also be available for purchase.
A place for communication that revitalizes the local community
Up until now, I have hosted and helped out with outdoor music festivals that are centered around enjoying music, and have experienced many live, DJ, and talk events held at live music venues and restaurants. Music festivals also serve as a secondary route to outdoor activities and leisure. It can be said that music festivals have become so popular that they have become an option for spending holidays that are out of the ordinary and can be easily enjoyed by the whole family.
In contrast, market events are events that are centered around "shopping," which is an extension of everyday life, so the concept is to make the customers who visit enjoy shopping even more. Furthermore, because it is called a "festival," it is thought that it will become something special only if there is "something" other than just enjoying shopping itself.
I believe that "something special" is the fact that going there generates a lot of communication and makes people feel glad to be there.
For example, at this year's "MARKESTA on Ranbu Street," unintentionally, clothing stores in the city, mainly in Fujisawa, made up 70% of the exhibitors. The oldest was a buyer who runs a second-hand clothing store with over 30 years of experience, and the youngest was a 21-year-old woman who just opened her own second-hand clothing store in March.
Fujisawa's clothing stores lined up together
As a place for intergenerational interaction, it is of course important for the customers to communicate with each other, but the ideal is for horizontal connections to emerge within the town, leading to information exchanges and collaborations between shops operating in the same area, and for a more vibrant culture to continue. Through such interactions, good things can be passed down and new creativity that can be enjoyed across generations can be created, and I strongly felt that "MARKESTA on Ramble Town" has a lot of potential. I think the event itself can grow as an event that opens up new possibilities.
The key to making this a reality is not to simply provide a venue for an event based on external perceptions such as "it looks fun," "it will sell," or "it's cool," and people say, "We'll pay the booth fee, so let us set up a booth." Rather, we want people to come to the venue, feel the atmosphere of the event for themselves, and enjoy the event, and through the communication that takes place there, we hope to continue to operate as a base that fosters connections, so that new exhibitors and collaborators can expand.
From now on, we want more people to know about MARKESTA, so we will need to be more creative with our promotions. We want to spread the word by experiencing and sharing the atmosphere of MARKESTA.
After the recent event, we received comments from friends and acquaintances such as, "It would be great if it was held over a wider area of the shopping district," and "If we increased the number of stalls it would be a bigger festival that people can enjoy," and we are grateful for their expectations.
However, I also feel that the scale of the event itself is just right for three people to manage. I also think that the scale of this event at Ramble Town was just right. If the scale were to increase, security and other staff would be required, and I think that something that cannot be explained in words would become diluted, which is the same for any organization. Instead, I would like to focus on making the content more substantial and incorporating memorable (memorable) content so that more people can enjoy it, while always enjoying the changes.
If we were to hold the event on a larger scale, I think it would be better to change the location or time, come up with a different concept to suit that, and create a new festival there.
In fact, they have been invited to hold the event in a different location, and although it cannot be done right away, they are excited about the idea of having fun coming up with an event that suits the local area in a new location.
Future vision
The biggest thing I felt after holding this event was that it was a success, bringing out the unique atmosphere of the area in front of Fujisawa Station in a good way, and was enjoyed by many people of all ages and genders. We received a lot of positive feedback, and that alone made it worth holding the event.
It was a great pleasure to see people of all ages enjoying the event.
There are many events in the town, such as Bon Odori, shopping street events, and festivals held by the city. Some continue and some disappear, but we want this event to gain many fans and become established as an annual event. It would be great if we could make it an even more fun event, add content that will attract people in their teens and twenties, and pass on the baton to keep it connected in perpetuity.
In fact, we heard from several university students who came to visit that they were inspired by MARKESTA and wanted to hold a market event similar to the one we set out to. Of course, we hope to see more similar events, but we first asked them if they would like to get involved in the production of our event. This is because we believe that MARKESTA's function as a vessel for consolidating and nurturing culture, which is becoming more minimal these days, is what makes it so great.
I believe that what will become important in the future is a vessel that can incorporate the voices and enthusiasm of this new generation, foster a culture that is unique to the region, and continue to evolve as generations change.
lastly
I've been living here for about 11 years now, and it's become like a second home to me. My goal for the future is for Fujisawa to continue to host events that stimulate the local sensibilities, and for it to develop into a place where you can experience the high sense of the town in its entirety.
The next event is scheduled for September. By then, I want to start planning my own media and video shoot. There are still many things I want to do.
I am proud to be involved with MARKESTA through the design skills I have cultivated up until now. It is my life's work that I would like to continue to cherish as an event that gives a glimpse of the growth of each member and participant.
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