When it comes to Reno punk, the next can’t miss event is just around the calendar corner. Co-founder Jessi Sprocket Janusee wants to make sure it’s understood the Reno Punk Rock Flea Market brings an inclusive concept of punk.
“You don't have to identify as punk to come and have a great time,” she explained during a recent interview with Our Town Reno. “Punk is more about an attitude, less about an aesthetic. And it's really for everybody and we encourage everyone to come. We get 65-year-old grandmas who come with their grandkids and have an awesome time.”
As Artown rolls around, a mid July special this year will be a new edition of the Reno Punk Rock Flea Market, the first one as a non profit and the first one in Reno, at Great Basin Brewing on Rock Blvd. July 15th and 16th.
Jessi is part of the team still hard at work with last minute logistics, adding a circus theme, with a carnival midway, mermaids, aerialists and clowns, as well as a skateboarding contest with the Bitchin Betties crew at adjacent Mira Loma Park in addition to vendors, live punk music, food trucks, kid crafts and the extremely popular car smash.
A promo video above for a previous edition.
Mutual aid groups are always involved as well with their own stands.
“I think that the punk vibe is very DIY and it's also very community driven. Like the community takes care of each other and that's always been something,” Jessi explained during our recent interview. “Since the first flea we invited Food Not Bombs and all the other mutual aid groups out, to just give out information and get new volunteers and get themselves in front of new people. So that's always been something that we wanted to support.”
This edition, a lot of volunteers are coming from Family Soup Mutual Aid and Trans Support Reno, and a new nonviolent deescalation coalition is helping with security.
“We didn’t want to have to do a rent a cop situation, we just wanted to figure out something that was like the community supporting the community. And they showed up and it was like perfect timing. So now they're gonna do security for both day,” Jessi said.
She is nervous about the weather being too hot, but still hopes to get the crowds in. Previous fleas have attracted in the range of three to over five thousand attendees.
“We’re a little bit worried about it, not going to lie because it's our first event that's more outdoors and also the weather in Reno is crazy, you know, it could be 110 degrees or it could be hailing,” she said of the upcoming event which will go for the two days from 10 to 6 pm, with ten to noon as quieter hours for families and near-divergent folks. Kids under 12 are free, while entry is $5 pre-sale and $7 at the door.
Jessi said it’s important to keep prices affordable, while also trying to grow the flea market’s vision and possibilities for the future.
“We want to grow as a non profit and our goal is to eventually have our own venue where we could be doing these community events and workshops and everything, year round and also offer up our space for different mutual aid groups that just need a larger space to do things which are affordable. The goal is raise money towards that, but also we never want it to be that people can't afford to come to our events. So we try really hard to get that sweet spot, where we're making enough that we could start working towards our long-term goals, but also where it's accessible for everybody in the community.”
Volunteers are always welcome, even at the last minute and online.
“We always want more volunteers,” Jessi said. “We have a volunteer sign up in our link tree and on our website. And we also started doing monthly meetups now with our volunteers and we have a Discord channel. Because we want to foster this volunteer community year round.”