One of our favourite events of the Baltic calendar is fast approaching – the Art Car Boot Fair! Traditionally tied in with Baltic’s Summer Sizzler taking place on 12 July, the whole of Baltic becomes an ode to summer with workshops, exhibitions and the Andy Welland pop up shop. But follow the building along to the car park and discover a trove of local makers and artists showcasing their amazing original works, prints and gifts - and it’s all available to purchase. With over 50 stalls (boots), a DJ, food offer and artisan doughnuts and coffee from local legends Deep North, it’s going to be a day to remember for visitors and stall holders alike.
But when did this Baltic summer staple begin? Cast your mind back all the way to 2022. Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art was approaching its milestone 20th Birthday and Baltic was deciding how to commemorate such a special event. In typical Baltic fashion, that meant celebrating with local visitors and artists showcasing what the north east has to offer with a car boot sale with a difference. The car park was to be filled with cars and art and food and bunting and everyone was welcome to join in the day. All we needed were people and nice weather and, on the first year of launching, we got both. With sun cream on hand and bottles of water distributed, July of 2022 turned out to be a scorcher with the River Tyne glistening and the ice cream queue, epic. A truly special event unfolded and, when the last table was cleared and the car park became just that again, we were already looking forward to the next one.
July 2023 brought more exciting makers and artists to the Art Car Boot Fair, but with it was brought a lot more weather. What started out as a fairly overcast day turned into almost hurricane type conditions as the heavens opened and the wind whipped up. Plastic sheeting was shared out to protect the precious work and objects, although stallholders and Baltic team were not quite as protected! A call was made to finish the day a bit earlier than we wanted but it hadn’t dampened our or the artists’ spirits. So onto 2024!
Never has weather been as watched as it was from the Baltic office leading up to July 2024. Every weather app was activated and every weather site was monitored until we came up with the following meteorological forecast; it might be OK but also it might not. Such is the whim of a British Summer Time and BST in the north east in particular. It was time to come up with a Plan B. Inside. Thank goodness for beautiful Baltic and its lovely level 1, empty and ready to receive hopeful stallholders should the weather not hold out. The weather did not hold out. And at the 11th hour, the brave and difficult decision was made to move the Art Car Boot Fair inside. And we pulled it off! 50 tables, people and products were moved from car boots to an event space in time for the soggy summer sizzler to start at 10am. With only a few years knocked off the organisers lives and a couple more grey hairs on their heads to boot as it were. Result!
And now it's 2025. Will we make the full day in the car park as intended a la 2022? Or will we be rocking it indoors like last year with all the same exciting offer but with a roof over our heads? We’re hoping (praying, sun dancing, wafting sage around) for sun as you just can’t beat a turn around the car park discovering new art, homewares and gifts as the Kittiwakes swoop overhead. But, if the rain comes out to play, there’ll still be a warm welcome on Level 1 with everything you're going to love at the Art Car Boot Fair and Summer Sizzler. And the doughnuts will still be there whatever the weather.
Want to know more? Follow the link the for all the important information to plan your Art Car Boot Fair visit.
