Palo Alto High School (Paly) hosted its monthly flea market with almost 80 vendors on Saturday, attracting a crowd of students from both Paly and Stanford alongside hundreds of community members.
Starting at 9 a.m., the empty parking lot transformed into a bustling market filled with merchandise, live music, passersby, and vendors selling everything imaginable. A quick glance around, and there are people selling instruments, handmade cloth, huge animal sculptures, clothing, records, and handmade jewelry.
The vendors were a fun and eclectic mix, matching the diversity of the items sold.
A woman from Santa Clara, surrounded by nearly 50 woven cloth bowls, proudly sold a collection of dresses, bowls, and fabric crowns. She learned to sew from her mother and grandmother, a tradition she carried forward. Each bowl takes her four to five hours to make, a testament to her dedication to her craft.
Her colorful, cheerful shop matched her personality. “I love flowers, and bright colors are my thing. Simple and universal. I like things that young people enjoy,” she said.
Nashua Azar’s stand was full of handcrafted rugs, polished stones, and bowls, all imported from Afghanistan. Selling with his wife and daughter, Azar explained how every piece is 100% handmade, each rug taking over a month to complete. Personal favorites included a marble stone tea set and a set of stone apples, his daughter’s favorite.
Riley, another vendor, has come to every Paly flea market for the past two years to sell vintage clothing collected from thrift shops, eBay, and Goodwill bins.
“I really like the classic ‘90s floral dress, if you can think of My So-Called Life or Freaks and Geeks era clothing,” she said. “It’s hard to not keep things for myself, but sometimes I do and then later I sell it. I’m like, ‘Man, and now they can have it. I’ve had my fun.’”
Many students, like Middle College student Vasim Jimale, were noticeably gathered by the clothing racks.
A regular flea-market attendee, they were looking for new flare leg jeans and had a few other good finds.
“One of my favorite things is this matcha-green pair of parachute pants I got here,” they said. They then pointed to a vibrant pink book. “This is my best friend. It’s a cookbook with a bunch of cooking clippings.”
Another student, Paly junior Kathleen Wang, came carrying a rag & bone bag that she bought at a past flea market. At this market, she added a new skirt, a sweater, and a set of rainbow checker mugs to her collection.
The flea market, held the second Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., is a place to find anything and everything, with a bustling atmosphere of smiling, chatty vendors. You can find more information about next month’s flea market he
