Fort Chaffee Outdoor Market and Car Show

Saturday, September 21st, Fort Chaffee hosted their Outdoor Market and Car Show at Chaffee Crossing Historic District.

According to the Chaffee Crossing website, this event was a “festival-style market on third Saturdays, May through October [where they] focus on supporting local entrepreneurs selling homegrown, homemade, and handmade products and original art, designs, and creations” (“Chaffee Crossing”).

The market was officially open at 8:00 that morning and lasted for about five hours. There was much to see and browse as there was live music and a variety of antique cars, as well as over fifty booths selling items that were not only different from one another, but also unique in their own regard.

Mostly, the event featured local businesses (Vital Coffee, Olive Coffee Co., and ClassicKitten), but I did see a few big companies featured as well. At the Nothing Bundt Cakes stand, however, concession staff did note that they weren’t selling as much as they had imagined, and admitted that I was their sixth customer of the day (at 11:30 a.m.). It appears the event was more so catered toward community-based companies, as the Five Loaves and Two Fish Bread Co. were just about sold out of their merchandise when I went to purchase an herb and honey loaf from their booth.

Though it was completely out of the control of the organizers for this event, it is worth noting that the blistering heat of the morning didn’t make for a very pleasant time walking about the different shops. For my friends and I, it was only tolerable for an hour or so until we sadly had to abort the mission and seek out a spot with air conditioning.

I highly recommend going to the next festival-style outdoor market and car show in Chaffee Crossing, which will be held later this year on October 19th when, hopefully, the weather will be more permissible.

Works Cited

Crossing, Chaffee. “Entertainment and Events.” Chaffee Crossing, 2024, www.chaffeecrossing.com/entertainmentandevents.