Halifax market creates space for human connection 

Along the aisles of Park Lane Mall on a Thursday evening earlier this month were 35 local vendors whose creativity brought the Halifax community together. 

They sold handmade jewelry, art, crochet animals, hair products, keychains, clothing and posters. Together, the booths created a vibrant rainbow. One booth was red and pink for Valentine’s Day. 

Neighbourly Market takes place on the first Thursday of every month. As this month’s market opened, about 100 adults and university students filled the aisles, all with smiles on their faces as they interacted with friends, other vendors and fellow shoppers. 

“We’ve gotten so far away from community connection, human connection, social spaces, and I think markets are these, you know, vibrant places where people come together,” Kieran Stepan, the Neighbourly Market co-ordinator, said in an interview. 

Stepan’s pride for this market was contagious as she walked around the market, smiling and clothed in pink and red.

Local markets bring the community together and supports local businesses. Interacting with your community can help reduce stress, according to Psychology Today. 

Neighbourly Markets also allows people to support small, local businesses, which employ 64 per cent of Canada’s private sector workforce and is the economic backbone of this country, according to the federal government. 

The only rule Stepan has for vendors is that their products are handmade and do not come from unethical businesses such as fast fashion retailers.

One of the 35 vendors at the Feb. 5 market was Salty Hair. They were inspired to start their business when founder Mike Petrosoniak kept getting compliments on how good his hair looked.

He would respond, “It’s just salt,” explained Allison Petrosoniak, the co- founder of Salty Hair (and Mike’s wife), in an interview. 

Salty Hair uses locally sourced ingredients such as bamboo extract, lemon juice and seaweed extract. One way Salty Hair helps to give back to our planet is by donating $1 from every product sold to help replant kelp forests and coral reefs, according to their website. 

Kelp forests harbour a greater variety of plants and animals than almost any other community in the ocean, and many organisms use the kelp blades as shelter, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

It wasn’t just Stepan and vendors who emphasized the importance of local markets. Shoppers made a point to come and buy from local businesses. 

“It’s a way to support the community,” said Isabella Reyes, a Halifax resident, when asked why she thought markets like this were so important.