egypteyes: Flea market comes to Zamalek

For the past few months, Designopolis in 6^th of October City has been the home to the occasional flea market. This has invited envy from most of the other neighbourhoods in Cairo, so the event organiser, Wasabi Marketing Agency, decided to take it to Zamalek.

According to Wasabi’s website, they are the first experiential marketing agency in Egypt. According to the internet, experiential marketing depends on customers’ response and focuses solely on working with their perceptions of brands. “Taking the know-how from our combined multinational marketing and advertising agency experience, we have opened Egypt’s media scene to this exciting young form of marketing. Our spectrum of activities ranges from high profile invites-only events, to exhibitions and conferences, to tasters at a local supermarket and everything in between,” boasts their website.

The flea market depends on bringing vendors from all sorts of backgrounds to sell their merchandise. The products can be old or new, but passers-by are guaranteed a variety of shops selling previously owned and vintage merchandise. This includes antiques such as crystal glasses, tea pots, silver utensils, and the like.

The event was held on Saturday, 18 January at the Aquarium Grotto in Zamalek, known as the home for previous Taste of Zamalek events. The flea market opened its doors to an eager crowd at 11am and continued till 6pm, which effectively blocked traffic on the tiny island until well after closing time.

In addition to the many stalls where you can find your next cool notebook or vintage trinket, there is a food court, with booths featuring many restaurants and cafes. There was also a children’s corner with many exciting games for the young ones. The event also hosted a number of local singers, namely Ahmed Aly, Nadya Shanab, Hassan Ramzy, and Neobryd, whose performance started promptly at 12pm.

Although the event was themed “Winter Wonderland”, the weather was quite sunny, making the huge snow globe in the middle of the park seem irrelevant. After the event, attendees went on Facebook to express their satisfaction. Many praised Wasabi for their good organisational skills and a well-timed day of fun.