Are we talking about the same city here? Sunday afternoon I stopped by the first Living Room Crafts Market held at Sense 99, a lounge on Wellington Street in Central. What I saw when I arrived totally caught me by surprise!

I’ve never thought of Hong Kong as a crafts sort of town, but entering Sense 99, the response was tremendous!

Each floor of the two-story space was packed with people. I’m not talking weirdos either! (o.k.. well, maybe just one or two!)

Perhaps the crafts people have always been around, but just lacked the proper platform to emerge and thrive. Things have really started to change in this town. One contributing factor are sites like Alive Not Dead, Facebook and entities such as Galleri Magazine, that enable splintered creative communities to find one another and flourish.

The event was promoted on Facebook with the following tag-line: “this is no old lady sewing circle. There will be plenty of hot young things, cocktails to drink and tunes…” For once the description was totally accurate.

The merchandise was as impressive as the crowd! There were leather jackets, hand-made dolls, artwork, one-of-a-kind t-shirts and many other items available for sale. The icing on the cake was a bake sale (pictured at top,) that featured everything from delicious homemade blueberry bars to vegan brownies!

As if it couldn’t get any better, upstairs an informal jam session was taking place.

If you were looking for a hip, young, creative, international crowd, you couldn’t have done better anywhere else in Hong Kong.

With the runaway success of the first one, the craft fair is going to be a monthly event. You can find out more information by visiting the Facebook Group called The Living Room Craft Market. They are actively looking for people with original handicrafts, plus others who make cakes, cookies and miscellaneous eatable treats. For more information contact: awongolding@gmail.com.

I’ll be back!

Recommended.

The Living Room Craft Fair
(one Sunday per month, check the Facebook Group above for the next date)
Sense 99
2/F, 99 Wellington Street (about two blocks past the escalator toward Sheung Wan)
Central, Hong Kong