Clark Park Flea Market

I’ve gone twice. First time, I found nothing. Second time, I got a sugar bowl (which I desperately needed). I don’t think you should come here with super high expectations — good to hit up when you happen to be at the farmers market. Like others have said, it’s like a big garage sale; hit or miss.

To be honest, most people are out here unloading junk like they stole a bunch of stuff from a hoarder and the hoarder didn’t even notice.

To me, a native Pittsburgher (where the flea markets are massive and the sellers often trashy *trashy=cheap=awesome*), this flea market is… meh.
What I loooove: The ambiance. It’s hippie meets Jamaica. There’s always live music, good food, and even better people watching.
What I’m not crazy about: The merchandise. New stuff from India is just not my thing. Whenever I find vintage, it is more often than not overpriced. Also, it’s not as large as most of the other area fleas.
Conclusion: It’s a fun time, but nothing to write home about.

Like a lot of things about Clark Park (and West Philly, and Philly in general) the flea market can be a bit hit or miss. But, again as with most things, if you dig a little you can usually come up with something amazing.
The flea market is kind of representative of the area, a fact that might be summarized best by saying that there are a lot of punk kids looking at African crafts while college students look overwhelmed. The smell of incense is in the air and at least one person is playing Michael Jackson.
As with most flea markets, there is a healthy selection of crap here. But mixed in with that crap are some truly great deals. Today I got some amazingly nerdy earrings made by a sweet girl who was babysitting a 1^st grader and, even more exciting, chatted with a book seller about how hard it is to find my favorite poet (which he had, for $ 3 — it’s still the highlight of my day).
And on the off chance you can’t find a single thing to buy here, you can always hop over to the Farmer’s Market and get a whoopie pie.

Although making my way through the swarms of people (and, on the walk there, flocks of preppy frat boys in salmon shorts and popped collars… probably my most despised demographic) was a little overwhelming, the Clark Park Flea Market was worth it. Given the fact that I am a female and sometimes tend to go overboard while shopping, I limited my purchases to one pair of beautiful painted-​wood earrings, which were handmade in Colombia. The merchants with whom I spoke were all very nice and gracious, especially the woman who sold me my earrings. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to be there, even if no one was buying their stuff. Saturday was an amazingly gorgeous day, and I was happy to have spent it outside at Clark Park! The one downfall… I was pretty thirsty, as it was hot out on Saturday, and the line for food and beverages was about thirty people long! I think that they need to add another concessions stand or two to even out the lines and keep people hydrated.

This flea market was better than expected. I have been to a ton of flea markets in my day and this one was as hippie as it gets. I had a blast browsing the scene. I left broke but with a smile on my face.

Meh. Mostly filled with stuff I am not going to buy. Sometimes I’ll get the meat on a stick from the Asian dudes, but thats about it. I think its nice that the park offers these kinds of things though. While I may not be buying any of the things at the market I like moseying on down on a sunny Saturday.

Review 700! While this one is definitely going to be a homage to one of my all time favorite event filled parks, It’s also going to sort of be a homage to one of our very own infamously amusing Unilocalers. You see back in the day Aaron O. came up with a Philly Unilocal drinking game where people would have to drink whenever a certain Unilocaler said something on a thread or review. While I don’t remember too many of the details for others I definitely remember that people had to drink whenever I talked about Clark Park. While I had a good laugh and told him that it would probably give some people a good buzz, I also said that people would get a lot more hammered if they had to drink whenever I referred to myself in the first person as McThrill.
I’m sure you can figure out where this is going. But after giving a good 25 minutes of deliberation as to what 700 was going to be, and realizing that Flea Market season in Clark Park is kicking off again, I figured why not and decided to make this review a little more optionally interactive. And that’s why this review is going to be done to the tone of a drinking game –1-​! The rules are pretty simple since they only involve drinking whenever «Clark Park» and «McThrill» is typed from this point forward. Have fun and remember to forward any cheers and hangover jeers towards Aaron for giving me such a silly idea in the first place. And now without further adieu I bid you Kanpai —
It’s no secret that McThrill (1) loves Clark Park (2). He has already dropped reviews on Clark Park (3), The Clark Park (4) Dog Bowl, and The Clark Park (5) Farmer’s Market. You’ll also find many instances of McThrill (6) declaring his love for Clark Park (7) in the talk threads. But McThrill (8) decided to save the best thing for last, because next to it’s amazing fests like Best Fest, the flea market might just be the best thing about Clark Park (9). McThrill (10) loves running around the park in search of sweet used books and clothes to give a new home too. But McThrill (11) especially loves the fact the Beautiful World Syndicate hooks Clark Park (12) up with it’s vast selection of vinyl, CDs, and movies. And don’t make McThrill (13) get started on the incredible steals he has gotten on things like a coffeemaker ($ 1!) and a Foreman Grill ($ 8!). Throw in the colorful assortment of regular vendors, and the interesting cause that it supports, and it goes without saying that McThrill (14) loves the Clark Park (15) Flea Market!
–1– Drinking isn’t really encouraged for this review and it’s all in good fun. But if you decide to have fun and drink responsibly.

Hey since Clark Park has its own Doggy bowl and farmer’s market reviews I figured I start up Flea Market reviews! There are several per year. Having been raised on flea markets in Florida, the ones held in Clark Park strike me more as very large group garage sales. A few jewelry and incense new booths, but mostly people selling an assortment of household junk they would like to get rid of. Great selection of dishes and kitchen accessories if thats what you are into. Some books, good amount of clothes, one or two pieces of furniture, records, and tons of knick knacks. I did find a totally awesome narrative from World World II I so had to have. Some people are selling stuff at steals or reasonable prices, but I think the increased traffic and glamor of a flea market makes prices higher than your average porch sale. Not as amazing as the flea markets around Fort Myers, FL if you have ever been to those you know what I mean, but if you are looking to hit the mother of all garage sales this is for you. Also totally neat to raid the Farmer’s Market which is held right next to where the flea market was set up, in the northeast corner of the park. Check out the park’s website for details upcoming dates are August 9, September 6, etc etc!