A celebration of Australian independent design, The Big Design Market debuts in Sydney this weekend and returns to Melbourne in early December. Billed as a one-stop Christmas shopping experience, the event allows shoppers to interact directly with designers and attend workshops, peruse art installations and munch on gourmet delights too.
The 2016 line-up includes Beci Orpin, Elke Kramer, Trent Jansen, Bridget Bodenham, Lekker Bikes and Bailey Nelson among many others.
With over 230 stallholders across homewares, textiles, lifestyle, fashion, furniture, lighting, stationery and children’s products, the event will be held in two iconic buildings this year – Sydney’s Royal Hall of Industries and Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building.
“The event provides a great platform for independent design businesses to present emerging brands and launch new product ranges to a responsive audience who are design-focused, early adopters and eco-aware. There is such a great atmosphere when these likeminded elements come together. We love bringing these products to new audiences,” says The Big Design Market director, Simon Obarzanek.
The event launched in Melbourne in 2012 and attracts almost 60,000 visitors over its three days. This year Sydneysiders will get the same experience for the first time. “We know Sydney is going to respond well as many of our customers already fly to Melbourne to attend our event each year. We thought it was time to offer Sydney its own event which has been localised through the mix of participating designers, workshops, kids’ activities as well as food and drink offerings that the city already knows and loves,” says Simon.
Attendees can munch on gourmet food and drink offerings including Gelato Messina, All Day Donuts and Taco Truck (who will appear in both cities) alongside a host of local vendors too.
A highlight of the event, creative workshops are back again this year also – Gemma Patford, Sibella Court, Home-Work, Beci Orpin and LuxBite will share their creative processes and help attendees create a unique piece to take home with them. Kids haven’t been forgotten either with Penny Ferguson of Min Pin creating a play area in both cities that will offer free activities.
Lastly, be sure to pick up your showbag – the limited edition designer showbags are highly sought after as they include up to $200 worth of design pieces and will be available for $15 in Sydney and $25 in Melbourne. Bargain!
The Big Design Market
Sydney: 25-27 November, 2016 at the Royal Hall of Industries, Moore Park
Melbourne: 2-4 December, 2016 at the Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton Gardens.
Admission: Adults $2 and kids under 12 are free.
See here for more.