Sol Markets

We’ve been taking some time away from socials and the event side of things to focus on our business health (we want Sol Markets to be around for a long time) 🌱

If you follow us on LinkedIn, you’ll know that we were recently accepted into the ‘Accelerate Regional’ programme, hosted by Impact Hub Asia Pacific 🌍

We are now part of a cohort of 5 other impact-driven entrepreneurs alongside our local Impact Hub Waikato, receiving tailored support to scale Sol Markets and make the business itself ‘sustainable’. Stay tuned for our progress over these next few months… 🤫

Our carbon capture for March and April 🌱🌏

Courtesy of Sol Markets stallholders 🙏🏼

Sol Markets updated their information in their About section.

And that’s a wrap on season one of Sol Markets! 🎉

I can’t believe we’re here already 😳 Around 2 years ago, this idea of a sustainable market came to me in the middle of the night 💡 I actually remember waking up like 5 or 6 times to scribble down notes for it on my phone 😂 Over the next 24 months, the idea melted and morphed and it wasn’t until moving to the Bay of Plenty that Sol Markets as you know it started to form 🌞 After that point, it all started to snowball really quickly 🌱🌍

I made contact with Tauranga Council in June of last year and we launched our first market in November. During those 6 months, there we SO many hours of research and hard work, reaching out to all these different stakeholders and companies, countless back and forth comms with council, and talking to local businesses and stallholders 📝

November rolled around really quickly and before I knew it we were launching - in torrential rain no less! ⛈⚡️From a really crappy weather forecast at our first market to the ever-changing Covid restrictions, our inaugural season has not been without it’s set of challenges and hardships. But we did it (and created something really special in the process) 🙏🏼

There are several important thank you’s to be said, people whom without their support, I never would have been able to do this (it really does take a village). To my older brother Sorel who initially believed in my idea and invested in it - thank you for always challenging me to dream bigger 💭🌍 To my friend Maria, thank you for always being there and helping me out at every single market, without question 💞 Jade, thank you for snapping some amazing pictures and just being an all round epic human 📸 Hannah, thanks for the incredible visuals our Sol Markets audience has come to know and love 🌤 Special mention to Ian for helping me construct our roadside sign - version 2.0 was much more of a success 😂 Lastly, to all my friends and family who have sent kind messages or showed up to a market, your support has meant the world 🙏🏼

I am so proud of what we have created here with Sol Markets - the community is truly a cut above the rest and I can’t wait to see what we accomplish next 🌱🌞

🎶 Sol Markets official playlist 🎶

Now you can recreate the Sol Markets vibe wherever you are by searching for our 70s-inspired playlist on Spotify 🌈⚡️🍄🕺🏼

⚠️ Warning: dancing and good vibrations will ensue ⚠️

Final Sol Markets of the season tomorrow! Who’s coming? 🙌🏼

Sunday 3rd April, Simpson Reserve, 9am-2pm 🌞

We have some awesome food trucks lined up for you tomorrow, including 🤤

These guys just joined the Sol Markets family last month and we are already in love with their delicious handcrafted churros! A must-try for sure 🙏🏼

Also joining the lineup is and Kelly’s Food Truck 🍦🍟

We have some great candle makers at our market this weekend, including 🔥

Sunday 3rd April, Simpson Reserve, 9am-2pm 📍

💧A reminder to bring your reusable water bottle this weekend 💧

We’re still a very new market and while we hunt for a sustainable, long-term solution to providing free water at our events, we encourage you to bring your own bottle ♻️

Throwback to our last market where we had the as part of a month-long series of sustainable events in March 🌿

Crowd favourites will be having an end of season mega sale at our market this Sunday 🌊 If you’ve been eyeing up their towels all summer, now is the perfect time to buy one for yourself 🙌🏼

When stallholders sign up to Sol Markets, they are encouraged to bring along their end of season/cosmetically-imperfect stock too 🍂 We love being able to promote a more circular economy in this way and offer different price points for people 🌱♻️

This Sunday we are bringing you something pretty special 💉💉

Having a sustainability market is not just about showcasing planet-friendly products, but about introducing you to sustainable practices too 🌍 That’s why we are thrilled to introduce multitalented artist Liam Makawe, who will be offering hand poke tattoos at our market this weekend ⚡️

Hand poke tattooing is the term used to describe the oldest skin marking traditions practiced by indigenous cultures all over the world before technology and steel tools ⚒

“When it comes to tattooing, I’m considering how I can have less impact on papatūānuku. That’s how our tupuna lived, so ‘Whai Tohu’, hand poke for me is a way of sustaining our traditions and papatūānuku” 🌱

You can find more of Liam’s work at .tohu and

Think it’s about time I introduce myself on here... hey, I’m Louella, the founder of Sol Markets 🙋🏼‍♀️

Prior to these markets I had zero business or event experience, I just knew that I was super passionate about sustainability and wanted to do something about it 🌍 The rest is kind of history... 🌱

I’ll be sharing more about how exactly Sol started over the next few weeks and our plans for the future, so keep an eye out! 👀

🌻 Want to join the Sol family? 🌻

We have our final market of the season coming up this Sunday 3rd April and are looking for a few more stallholders! If you’re passionate about...

🌱Connecting with like-minded people
🤲🏼 Creating a community
🌏 Being part of something bigger
.. then head over to the link in our bio to sign up 🐝

The pooches of Sol Markets 🐶

We love when you bring your canine companions down to the markets 🐾 And they love it too - so many pats!

ft. one of our favourite pups and market regular .the.vagabond 🇲🇽 This little guy was rescued from sickness and starvation in Mexico by and is now one of the core members of our Sol family 🌵

Don’t think I’ll ever get over receiving comments like this - our Sol Markets community is the best! 🌱

Favourite. Market. Yet

Sunday’s market was an absolute dream ☁️ I don’t think when I set out to do this project that I quite grasped the community we would be able to bring together, but this weekend I was really blown away by it all

The chill out space you see in this photo happened so organically, with various stallholders generously offering their product or services to the market for free

💙 went out of her way to make yellow and blue bunting (in the colours of Sol) just for us to use for the market

🌴 .hut kindly lent us a couple of their sun shades (again in Sol colours) and is also looking at creating a recycled alternative after our chats

🌊 gave us some of their lush beach blankets to lay down on the grass

🎤 and the folks behind actually offered up one of their husbands to play some music for us!

Truly couldn’t have dreamt up a better vibe and group of people if I tried 💛 Did you come along to check us out? What did you think of the atmosphere?

*Also peep contribution! There was a hole in the ground people kept stepping into so they used their sign to cover it up 😉

combines elegant handcrafted homewares with social impact, supporting African artisans and working towards ending the cycle of poverty (in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals’ 1 & 3) 🌍

Come learn more about their social and environmental stewardship tomorrow at Simpson Reserve, 9am-2pm! 🌱

is an eclectic group of Okere Falls based artists and creatives 🌼 You'll find them and their bespoke goods at the market this Sunday, including:

☕️ is creating exciting new ceramic tablewares and keep cups for all your culinary and caffeine needs

🐑 creates handmade, NZ-grown, conscious, comfy knitwear

✏️ razortaserlaser will have hand printed street art tees and other handmade and upcycled stencil art

All this and more! Sunday 6th March, Simpson Reserve 🌞

We are SO excited to have at our market this weekend 🌟 Here are just a few reasons why we love them so much! 👇🏼

🌍 Ethical and sustainable handmade jewellery inspired by the world
🐚 Locally designed in Papamoa
💚 All materials come from certified ethical sources
♻️ 925 sterling silver recycled from old and broken jewellery
🌲 One tree donated and planted for every order to One Tree Planted

It’s still wild to us that our little market is gaining traction and we’re getting awesome brands like onboard 🌼 If you want to know what all the fuss is about, come see for yourself this Sunday 6th March, Simpson Reserve!

Our market photographer and dear friend will be selling prints of her photos this weekend 🌅🎞

Jade is a bit of a local legend and we may be biased but we think she’s pretty damn great at what she does! 🌊📸 This will also be her first market so would be awesome to see a few of you down there to support 🙌🏼

If you’re interested in nabbing some of her beautiful artwork for yourself, come on down to Simpson Reserve this Sunday, 9am-2pm 🌼

will have a load of sustainable bunting available at our market this weekend to purchase! 💐

Lou makes this beautiful handmade bunting from rescued fabrics, mainly vintage sheets 🎞 Available at any length for hire and sale

will be making their debut at our market next Sunday, showing off some epic handmade upcycled goodies 🤙🏼♻️

They’ll have these awesome surfboard covers made out of old towels, clothes and duvets 🌊 And sponges that were once coffee sacks! Donated by our very own Dylan from ☕️

All this and more, Sunday 6th March, Simpson Reserve 🌼

It’s time to start getting excited for next week’s market with our latest round of stallholder introductions ⚡️

is a boutique clothing store drawing inspiration from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s 💿👾☮️ Their range is curated with vintage, quality garments that you can love for years to come 🌏

CJ and I actually met working at Recycle Boutique together (a consignment clothing store ♻️) in 2019 and I can confirm she is a certified bad-ass/eco warrior/all round epic human - make sure to drop by her stall next Sunday and say hello! 🌈🌻🌼

We will be back Sunday 6th March for all your sustainable needs! ⚡️

MARKET POSTPONED ⛈⛈

Our market tomorrow, Sunday 6th February, has been postponed due to the rain forecast ☔️

New date announced soon ⚡️

What a time to get into the events industry hey!

These last few months have been full of challenges and changes for Sol Markets, and we’ve had to learn to roll with the punches (to say the least!) 👊🏼 From our very first market bucketing down with rain ☔️⛈ to the constant updates to restrictions (including this most recent move into red), it’s been one helluva’ opening season for us 💛

We are so grateful to each and every one of you who has supported our project and joined our sunny little community - your patience and positivity as we navigate this new space is so appreciated and is what keeps us going! 🌞🌈🌻

Have you seen our latest feature in 🗞 Thanks for the write up!

“A brand-new sustainability-themed market that’s designed to take the overwhelming feeling out of making environmentally friendly choices. There's nothing but good energy in this line-up of stalls and food trucks, including zero-waste swimwear, houseplants and flowers, aromatherapy products, handcrafted jewellery, furniture, coffee and wood-fired pizza.

When: 9am–2pm, first Sunday of every month until April 2022 (Simpson Reserve, Pāpāmoa Beach)”

We’re back this Sunday 6th February if you want to come check it out for yourself! 🌱

Excited to share that we have captured over two tonnes of CO2 with 🙌🏼🌿

When Sol Markets was first dreamt up, the idea was to offer a more sustainable consumption model, championing the efforts of local businesses and giving the public greater access to goods that didn’t cost the earth 🌱🌏 But we also knew we wanted to keep our impact as a market low 👣

Thanks to the collective contributions of our Sol Markets stallholders, we have managed to capture two tonnes of CO2 across our December and January markets! An awesome outcome, well done 👏🏼