By Kaitlin Fleming
Staff Correspondent
The City of Attalla will host Antique Attalla Vintage Market on 4th Street and 5th Avenue this Saturday, May 14 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Streets will begin closing at 5 p.m. Friday night so vendors can set up. This event corresponds with the U.S. Highway 11 Yard Sale this weekend. The vintage market will be held the weekend after Mother’s Day every year.
The Antique Attalla Vintage Market began as Attalla’s Treasure in the Streets, the free biannual event. The Treasure in the Streets event was started as a way to draw shoppers into Attalla.
“We want to make Attalla great again,” said Debby Carden with Attalla Information and Development Center. “We have a great city and want others to see it.”
This is the first year with the new name, and Carden said the city would not have begun this market without the hard work that went into Treasure in the Streets.
“If Treasure in the Streets wasn’t started we wouldn’t be able to do this,” said Carden.
The vintage market will include over 40 vendors from Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee and Alabama including, Ohio Antiques, Forty Years Later, Fifth Ave. Market Place, Coconut Blendz, It’s A Wrap, Just 4 U Jewelry, Sister Sister, The Painted Gourd, Honeycutt’s Antiques and more. Vendors will display handmade jewelry, handmade soap, pottery, vintage linen clothing, collectibles, furniture, plants, vegetables and many more.
“There is such a wide range of age groups who enjoy antiques,” said Carden. “This market will have items for everyone.”
Along with the wide variety of vendors, this event will feature a live DJ. DJ Jimmy Jam will be on site all day taking requests.
Carden has high hopes for this year’s market and the years to come.
“We’re thinking of doing an Antique Car Show with next years market,” she said. “We already have vendors asking to sign up for the event next year.”
Another great aspect of this vintage market will be the two walking tours of Historic Downtown Attalla. These tours will be given by David Murdock, a professor at Gadsden State Community College and a native of Attalla. The first tour will begin at 10 a.m. and the second one at 12 p.m.
“The main point of our History Walks in Attalla is to get people to come out and share their memories of downtown,” said Murdock. “Often, when we hear the memories of another, coupled with being there on the scene, it reminds us of things that we may have forgotten. Oral history like this is a collaborative endeavor best accomplished in company. Please come and join us.”
With so many vendors, shoppers will be able to find antiques of all kinds. Shoppers won’t have to worry about lugging around their antique treasures all day; there will be a loading area set up so shoppers can truly shop until they drop.
Carden hopes to make this event bigger and better each year.
“I want this to be as large as our Heritage Day,” she said.
Carden said the Gadsden Tourism Board was a tremendous help with this year’s market and she’s looking forward to working with them again.
The City of Attalla is very excited about the market and is looking forward to new people coming to enjoy the wonderful Antique Attalla.