A pair of vintage vendors are bringing a taste of southern living to British Columbia with the second annual Vintage Pasture Sale, taking place Aug. 6 in Langley.

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MacInnes Farms, a family-owned, 40-hectare property about a 40-minute drive southeast of Vancouver, will be the site of the vintage-forward sale — which is modelled after outdoor markets in the southern United States called pasture sales.

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“All of our vintage markets [in the area] are mixed pretty heavily with makers,” says Kathryn Dolphin, owner of Langley-based vintage and antiques shop Copper Reata and co-organizer of the Vintage Pasture Sale. “We do have a few makers, but we try to be really selective and primarily lean towards farm-produced goods.”

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With 42 vendors total, a few spaces are reserved for farm-fresh preserves and flowers, and handmade items with a vintage flair. The rest are all vintage vendors — a carefully curated list that combines primitive, farmhouse and mid-century modern and kitsch vendors. “When you’re shopping in the States and you go to a vintage market, it's just vintage vendor after vintage vendor,” Kathryn explains.

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It’s a collector’s dream, and Kathryn and fellow co-organizer Amanda Upton, founder of Forest Knolls Vintage, wanted to provide a space primarily for vintage lovers with their sale.

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Amanda, a full-time teacher who sells primarily at markets and styles vintage for social media, says she’s always dreamed of holding an outdoor market like this one. “Obviously down south the weather is favourable, so they’re able to have these outdoor markets on a regular basis,” she says. “I love going to them.”

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Larger event for 2022

After a successful first event in August 2021 with 32 vendors, Amanda and Kathryn have expanded the vendor list for this year but maintained its careful curation with a dynamic mix of primitive, farmhouse and mid-century modern vintage vendors.

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The partners are hoping for smoother sailing this year, after their first year brought venue challenges, changing COVID-19 restrictions and a devastating fire season. The first market, held Aug. 14, 2021, was during an extreme heat wave that plagued much of B.C. last summer.

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With the grass at their inaugural site so dry, vendors couldn’t drive their vehicles in as planned and had to unload further away from their booths. Smoke filled the venue site as forest fires raged in the area.

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Still, more than 2,000 people showed up. “We were lined up all the way out of the park. It was wild,” says Amanda. “We did everything we could with all of the environmental elements against us, and to see so many people come out was so great. All the vendors were so happy with their sales and just being able to chat with customers.”

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Strong interest in the Aug. 6 sale has already led Kathryn and Amanda to book another event for Oct. 22, this time a harvest sale at another location.

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Building a new community

The sense of camaraderie that came out of the first event has been a boost for the local vintage community, which has undergone significant changes over the past couple of years, Amanda and Kathryn say.

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“We’ve lost a lot of sellers unfortunately—during COVID it wasn't worth paying to store their items. They ended up just clearing out and I don’t think they will restart,” says Kathryn.

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“But we also had so many new vendors emerge. There were the openings of two vintage collective-style businesses, which has been great because it’s given these vendors places to sell when there aren’t markets, and that’s been able to keep them selling and available for new markets.”

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Food trucks, beer on site

The setup for the Aug. 6 event at MacInnes Farms will allow for more vendors and food trucks to join the Vintage Pasture Sale. An on-site brewery, Locality Brewing, will be open for event goers.

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“The vendors are really excited and everyone’s busy curating their booths. Come and stay, have a beer, grab a pizza from the food truck. It’s a beautiful location. There’s a river running through the property; it’s gorgeous,” says Amanda. “MacInnes is a local farm.

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They sell honey and eggs and they just started this local brewery. This was a great opportunity for us to support and collaborate with a local small business.”

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Event details

The Vintage Pasture Sale runs Aug. 6. For a list of vendors, visit the event website.

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Early bird tickets are available — buy them here. For shoppers looking to get the best selection, first-dibs tickets (9 am to 10 am) are available for $10, and general admission is $5 (10 am to 4 pm).

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For vendor inquiries on future markets and or to keep an eye on upcoming dates, follow Vintage Pasture Sale on Instagram.

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To see more vintage and resale events happening in British Columbia and across Canada, visit our events calendar.

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