Via @DPTimes The REDO Vintage & Maker’s Market is coming back to Dana Point for its third year on May 1, when more than 100 vendors, a dozen artists, three music stages, three beer gardens and two vintage car groups will line multiple blocks along Del Prado Ave. throughout the day.
The event launched in 2019 after the city approached REDO founder Randy Hild to see if there’d be any interest in a vintage surf market in Dana Point. Hild collects all things surf and skate, and he had become acquainted with vintage markets up and down the coast and across the country.
“It just happens to be something I’ve watched and participated in and sold and bought at; I collect all things surf and skate and have for 30 years, so I knew that network and the city thought it was a good idea,” Hild said.
From there, the idea took off.
What started as maybe doing a vintage, surf and skate market was where this seed of an idea started,” Hild said. “It morphed into what was then my concept but with the city’s full input and cooperation.”
REDO Market fills three blocks of Del Prado with vintage vendors. Hild clarified that everything needs to be at least 40 years old to be considered vintage, and 100 years old to be considered antique.
“What makes this market unique is that I do really try to pull from vendors, the food vendors, vintage vendors, and music vendors from South Orange County,” Hild said. “We really try to keep it local.”
Hild added that there are “some exceptions to that, and we do draw dealers who come from LA to San Diego, but if you’re from Orange County and you’re a vintage dealer, you’re a music act, you’re a food truck, you definitely get priority.”
There is now a waiting list of vendors hoping to sell their vintage goods at REDO Market, Hild said.
“It’s gotten to the point where I’m able to really curate the best of the best to be there,” Hild said. “There’s housewares people, there’s surfboards and skateboards, so guys that sell only vintage surfboards and skateboards; we have a group of vinyl record vendors that sell cassette tapes, 8-track tapes and vinyl records. And then there’s clothing. The vintage clothing thing is probably the biggest category.”
The inaugural event was held in 2019 and featured 60 unique vendors. It wasn’t held in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the market featured 100 dealers and brought out record attendance while following the latest COVID guidelines.
This year’s event will have three stages for music and three beer gardens, as well as 120 dealers. Of the 120 dealers, about 12 booths will be allocated to artists, with the remaining booths dedicated to vintage sellers.
“We’ll have a couple photographers, a couple illustrators; there’ll be a couple jewelry makers, a potter, a local guy that hand-makes wood-cutting and carving boards,” Hild said. “But everyone on that list in the category of artists, if they don’t live in Dana Point, they live in one of the connecting cities.”
The stages are booked with a variety of performances throughout the day, from a hula troop to local bands.
Anthony Small, co-founder of the Dana Point-based Music Preserves Foundation, will program one of the sound stages, branded as the Music Preserve Stage.
StillWater Spirits & Sounds will host performances on an outdoor stage starting at 2 p.m. and will carry on after the REDO Market closes at 4 p.m.
A Volkswagen Bus club and Vintage woody club will also be on either ends of the market.
“It’s kind of a fun little car show, but a much smaller portion of our day; and not really meant to be a car show, but it just adds a little flavor to the day,” Hild said.
Hild hopes that visitors come away wanting to come back to Dana Point feeling welcomed by the city.
“We want to continue to have this really wonderful day, and my job is to keep making it a better experience for everyone,” Hild said. “So, we make sure we have plenty of food trucks for everyone, and we make sure parking isn’t a hassle, we make sure there’s great music.”
“I want to have kids with sand on their feet walking barefoot from Doheny, but I also want the private communities to get out of their gate and come down and get on the street and everyone enjoy the city and enjoy each other’s company,” he continued.
Hild added that he sees the event as a way to unify the community.
“I think this event helps (keep the community united), and I give the city tremendous credit; they’re really passionate about it and really care about it,” he said. “It’s a treat to be connected to something like this.”
REDO Market will run from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on May 1 on Del Prado Ave. Parking and admission are both free. More information can be found at redomarket.com.