Baltimore Flower Mart

The Flower Mart is an annual festival native to Baltimore, Maryland.

History

The first Flower Mart was held in the Mount Vernon area of Baltimore, MD,^[1] in 1911. It was founded by a non-profit organization known as the Women’s Civic League, which is an organization run by women looking to better Baltimore for its citizens.^[2] In 2000 the Women’s Civic League gave up its rights to host the Flower Mart Festival. The league, hosting since 1911, no longer had enough members to gather a committee. The Mount Vernon-Belvedere Association, agreed to be the new host of the Baltimore tradition. They declared to keep the traditional aspects of the flower mart, including its location in Mount Vernon. The Flower Mart is held each year in the beginning of May. Participants and vendors at The Flower Mart offer gardening tips, sell plants and seedlings, and other gardening-related goods. Along with vendors are various forms of live entertainment and edible treats for guests to enjoy, such as its traditional lemon sticks. Out of the Flower Mart have come lots of traditions for guests to look forward to annually. In 1955 a song was created to celebrate the Baltimore tradition of the Flower Mart^[3]

Location

The annual Baltimore flower mart is held in Mount Vernon. It has become tradition since 1911 for the festival to be held in front of the Washington Monument, allowing guest to participate in the festival and to visit historical shops and museums in the Mount Vernon area. There have been 11 incidents where the flower mart was not held in Mount Vernon. It was canceled from 1939 to 1945 during World War II. Throughout the late '60s through the early 70s the festival was moved from Mount Vernon to Charles Center due to the Baltimore Riots. In 1994, the members of the Women's Civic League voted to move the Flower Mart from Mount Vernon to the War Memorial Plaza. In May 1995, the 79th annual spring festival was held in War Memorial Plaza, welcoming new guest to the tradition. After the festival was cancelled in 1996, due to discrepancies within the league, the flower mart returned to Mount Vernon.

Contests

During the spring the FlowerMart holds numerous contests which ranges from "Best hat contests" to "Best decorated booth". One of the most celebrated events is the "Hilda Mae Snoops Art Contest". Mrs.Snoops served as the ambassador of the state during William Donald Schaefer's term as Governor of Maryland and received the honor of having the art contest named after her because of all the good she had done for the community during that time. The art contest is a contest amongst middle school students in which each contestant has to create an original piece of art and the winners are given various cash prizes, including fifty dollars to the school of the winning child. Other contests include the best hat contest that is open to both children and adults. The Best Pet Contest, where contestants bring their pets out to do something funny, cute, or very obedient. The dance contest is broken up into 3 different divisions; the best salsa, the best swing dance, and the best freestyle. Contestants are able to then choose which division they want to enter or if they want to enter all three for a better chance to win one. The Over the top hat contest and the Grand Hat contests are often confused though. The grand hat contest is simply a plain hat that are often seen on women’s heads after a church service. Where as the over the top hat contest allows contestants to add whatever they can manage to get on their hats. Large bouquets of flowers are mostly the norm in this contest. The over the top contest is also open to children and adults. The decorated booth contest is exactly what it sounds like, a botanical paradise on and around the booths. The best flower costume is broken up into divisions just as the dance contest; there is the most creative costume, the most unusual costume, and the most beautiful flower. To round the festivities up there is a raffle drawing where the winner receives a cash prize of over three hundred dollars. The flower mart contests bring out a brighter side of the area and allows people to be artistic and still manages to relate it all to flowers. These contests have something for everybody and are a real good way to spend time with your family.

Vendors

The flower mart has various vendors for the two-day weekend that consist of a 10x10 space that are discreetly assigned by the FlowerMart headquarters. FlowerMart stations are booked fast and start at a beginning price of 300. Vendors can rent supplies such as tents, tables, and chairs before setting up. Set up times are often scattered to avoid mishaps between vendors.The FlowerMart also offers a disclaimer to vendors expressing that they are not held responsible for “any and all claims, actions, damages, losses, liabilities and expenses arising from or related to the breach of the obligations, warranties, and representations”. Vendors are encouraged to remove all items from their space(s) after each closing of the Mart on both Friday and Saturday to avoid problems with items. Advertising can also be purchased to attract more business. Vendors will be featured on the FlowerMart programs, newsletters, and website. Each of the vendors are or either related to the following:

• artist photographers
• arts and crafts
• children’s corner
• community and government
• non-profit, school
• special gardens
• wellness
• food.

One of the infamous listings is the children’s corner which consists of Applegate books and Planet Awkward. Dee Mckay is the author of 6 books published by Applegate and interests the children with story time. Plane Awkward snatches the children up in arts with face painting and Henna tattoos. Parfections, which can be found in gourmet food, is also a vendor and is also a master of homemade gourmet chocolates hosting a variety of flavors and styles. Commercial vendors such as Comcast/ Xfinity, The New York times and The Baltimore Sun yearly rent to broaden their business in the city of Baltimore. Many come from all over, and not just the state of Maryland, to spread what they have to offer and share their love of flowers and the Flower mart.

References

^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]}

1. ↑ Alvarez, Rafael. "Flower Mart Canceled for 1996 Apathy, Infighting Cited in Decision by Civic League." The Baltimore Sun 14 Mar. 1996: n. pag. Print.
2. ↑ Alvarez, Rafael. "Flower Mart Rebounds in a New Home." The Baltimore Sun 12 May 1995: n. pag. Print.
3. ↑ D'Arcy, Janice. "Spring Tradition Blooms Afresh Fest: Flower Mart Breaks Its Dormancy and Returns, along with Its Much-beloved Crab Cakes and Lemon Sticks." The Baltimore Sun 14 May 1997: n. pag. Print.
4. ↑ Brew, Bill. "FlowerMart 2015 | May 1 & 2." Flowermart 2015. Copyright© 2014 Flower Mart at Mount Vernon, Ltd., 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. <http://www.flowermart.org/contests.html>.
5. ↑ Snoops. "Hilda Mae Snoops Art Contest." 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 1 Jan. 2014. <http://www.flowermart.org/images/SnoopsForm14.pdf>.
6. ↑ Rasmussen, Fredrick, and Sandy Banisky. "Hilda Mae Snoops Dies at 74." The Baltimore Sun 5 June 1999. Web. 1 Jan. 2014. <http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-06-05/news/9906050170_1_snoops-schaefer-hilda-mae>.
7. ↑ McKay, Dee. "Applegate Books." Applegate Books. 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. <http://applegatebooks.com/>.
8. ↑ "Planet Awkward." Planet Awkward. Weebly, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 1 Jan. 2014. <http://www.planetawkward.com/>.
9. ↑ Rigby, Kimberley. "Handmade Gourmet Truffles and Chocolates - Parfections." Handmade Gourmet Truffles and Chocolates - Parfections. 2010-2014 Parfections LLC, 1 Jan. 2010. Web. 1 Jan. 2014. <http://www.parfections.com/>.
10. ↑ Mezensky, C. (2010, May 4). Little known facts about Baltimore's Flower Mart. Retrieved December 3, 2014, from
11. ↑ "Spring Delights at Flower Mart." The Baltimore Sun 30 Apr. 1991: n. pag. Print.
12. ↑ Stiehm, Jamie. "Tradition Still Blooms During Flower Mart." The Baltimore Sun 17 May 2000: n. pag. Print.