The last event of the year for Sacramento’s Bloom Festival on Oct. 15 at Elk Grove Regional Park will be one the whole family can enjoy.
Vintage clothing, jewelry, crystals and food will all be featured by unique and one of a kind vendors.
The Halloween theme of the event will attract guests of all ages as free trick or treating will be offered throughout the event, starting from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
An event with a free entry policy and customer trick-or-treating from booth to booth, will be one everyone needs to check out. The earlier the better, because Elk Grove Regional Park has limited parking.
Chefs and do it yourself vendors will line up the park’s sidewalks advertising their own one of a kind products.
Bloom Festival founders, Lalo Mata and Leandra Coronado, host this event every other month to attract and support small business entrepreneurs. They choose the most talented and creative vendors, who sell pieces that are carefully and expertly handcrafted.
“We originally started our other market in Sacramento,” Mata said. “Called Sac Town’s Finest Market and once we got that ball rolling a little bit. There’s not a lot of events out here, like market wise. So we wanted to be the home base for that kind of environment.”
This farmers market style festival is one of the only markets of its kind in the Elk Grove area.
The festival allows small businesses a chance to share their name and spread out their merchandise.
“I primarily sell handmade artisan jewelry,” Alyssa Meiszinger, a first time Bloom Festival vendor, said. “Made with sterling silver, reclaimed copper and natural stones.”
Meiszinger and her business Arcane Moon Jewelry makes each piece with recycled and eco-friendly materials. She gives recycled and abandoned pieces a whole new life by upcycling them and incorporating them into her one of a kind art.
“I am a fourth generation rock hound,” Meiszinger said. “I actually have been making jewelry since I was a kid with my Grandad. I’ve been a professional artist since my early teens and have always been creating art in various forms. I didn’t start selling my art until around 2014 though.”
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Vendors with special skills and talents sell rare and handmade pieces all over the park. Just like Meiszinger, the art they create has a history special to them.
“We will have multiple jewelry vendors, but in a way they are all very different with unique styles and jewelry types,” Coronado said.
Consumers will be guaranteed a one of a kind item, fit to just their liking. But the Bloom Festival doesn’t just highlight small manufacturing businesses though, it also features a variety of food vendors too.
Arawan Market, created by Anne Sarao, uses Sarao’s love for food and creative talents to serve healthy and quality smoothies. Unlike most vendors who set up booths and tents at the Bloom Festival. Arawan Market brings their own movable smoothie trailer.
“I make quality smoothies,” Sarao said. “I try to use a lot of fruits and try to buy organic and local as much as I can.”
A healthy alternative snack with a mocktail aesthetic is the main goal of Sarao’s food trailer. Some highlights of the healthy snacks she creates are her acai bowls and juices.
“I try to incorporate Asian fruits as well, which maybe not everyone is familiar with. I use a lot of mangoes and tropical fruits as well,” Sarao said.
She doesn’t just serve smoothies, but refreshers and unique lemonades. Sarao’s favorite, Pink Sunset, is made with guava, pineapple, and topped with an orange beet juice.
Each vendor is hand selected and chosen by Mata and Coronado. They choose vendors from all over Sacramento who they feel will represent and benefit from selling at Bloom Festival.
“We have over 145 vendors,” Coronado said. “They are all ranging from food, handcrafts and jewelry. Pretty much anything you can think of, we will have there.”
Some people love the festival so much that they never miss the monthly event. Each festival is different and vendors are always changing.
Alanya Vilayphone, a fourth-year health science major at Sacramento State, never misses a festival. She loves how every event is different and the amazing atmosphere.
“I enjoy walking around,” Vilayphone said. “Looking at the small businesses. I like seeing what they create and sometimes I go around and snake through the booths twice.”
The festival usually features music from live bands or DJs and is a big part of the enjoyable atmosphere.
“They play a lot of music,” Vilayphone said. “Not just radio and DJ music either. Sometimes they have live bands. I enjoy grabbing food from one of the vendors and listening to the music while I check out the small businesses.”
Head on over to Elk Grove Regional Park in Sacramento, on Oct. 15, to support local small businesses and the art they create. Plus get a chance to trick-or-treat throughout the event.
