MERCADO SEGRADO – ARTISANS AND EATS!

by with No Comment adventureartcommunityentertainmentfamilyfestivalsfood

The perks of raising the world’s most perfect flower child is that she knows when anything zen-y and cool is happening in our area! Mercado Segrado in Topanga Canyon is an artisan goods and healthy eats event that happens annually and we’ve turned it into a family tradition.  Full of organic food options, art, and hand crafted goods, if you love festivals than you’ll love this one. We especially love supporting local artists and eating from locally sourced venues!




This year, the background for the event was the grounds of Paramount Ranch in Agoura. It’s an old western set, with open spaces, barns, and buildings that look like they came straight out of a John Wayne film. The festival in past years have been held in Topanga Canyon but each year it becomes larger and this location didn’t disappoint!

We had a few favorite vendors that we kept popping our heads into to check out, Earth + Element being one of them! She makes some of the most beautiful ceramics you’ve ever seen, a ’boutique with a conscience’ <3 Their Moon Mugs are out of this world beautiful, check them out if you love ceramics like we do. And DL Skateboards– we couldn’t get over the craftsmanship and admired their boards throughout the day.

Each skateboard is handcrafted from a single piece of solid oak wood, they’re gripped with sand from Topanga Canyon, and the wheels and hardware are all made with parts from right here in California. How awesome is that?! If that weren’t convincing enough for you to go check them out, you should know that they also believe in the bartering system! Yes, you can barter for a board lol that’s the damn best! If I had a military issue canvas tent (ahem dad send me one from your basement!) to barter with, it’d be for the Deep Sun board. It’s my favorite, the colors just make me happy!



And of course, no travel post of ours is complete without a food photo! Pictured here is mango sticky rice. Made to perfection, this was one of many eats and treats featured at Mercado Segrado and we would’ve ordered another one if the line weren’t so long, it was one of the most popular dishes!


Pro tips: Wear comfy shoes- you’ll be walking around on unsteady rock all day, bring a hat and sunscreen- it’s an open space and you’ll want to explore the grounds, and get there when it opens- it’s nice to visit each pop-up tent and vendor there, and then have a seat to listen to one of the live performances take place. Take it all in it only happens once a year.

 

Do you have any local events near you that you HAVE to go to each time they come around again? 

 

Mercado Segrado

MERCADO SEGRADO – CHANNELING MY INNER FLOWER CHILD

by with No Comment adventureartfestivals

We try and take each weekend to focus on family time, exploring the different festivals around L.A., and disconnecting from the work week by getting outside. This past weekend we attended a small festival called Mercado Segrado, in the Malibu canyons. It was a celebration of the canyon spirit, the arts, and an Earth-connected kind of experience. I’m all about that spiritual life so you know I got all kinds of loopy about this!

Set in a private oak grove in Malibu featuring hand made goods, artisan vendors, fresh food, and spiritual ceremonies (more on this in a bit). Above is the view from where we were when we entered the festival, from the far back white fence. Soooo beautiful!

Mercado Segrado
This is that fence, and to the left you’ll see one of the vendors – a beautiful set up of what appeared to be made of paper mache and animals formed from what looked like beautiful pieces of color paper. Beyond the fence is a small pond and the rock formation that we’ll call the “disgruntled man”. If you were able to see beyond the weeping willow tree, you’d see groves upon groves of trees and green!

Mercado Segrado
Here’s a man in the wild. Joe, barefoot, shoes in hand- we were headed towards the live band area and taco stand near the back. I’m not sure that he was just as in love with the festival as we were, as it was a very female heavy crowd and we were all barefoot and swaying with the wind, but he loved all that energy floating around him!

Mercado Segrado
There were tents, open spaces, and racks full of vintage clothing and goods, handmade art pieces, and soy candles – pictured above is Corrine in her element- sifting through vintage pieces underneath a meadow of trees. It was just as magical as it looks here, the sun did this to the photograph, nothing I could do could have made it look so dreamy.

festival6
Corrine found a spot under one of the trees later in the afternoon to set up our blanket for picnic times. Look at her, my lil Earth baby. She found the event this day,  she follows a lot of the vendors and artists that were there on Instagram. Here under the tree we had vegetarian tacos and a rice bowl . . under a tree you guys… on the grass. Makes me want a back yard. Now about that tea ceremony…..

Mercado Segrado

The words you see on the piece of paper are the words that came to me after I participated in a tea ceremony. I sometimes go into things as a bit of a skeptic and I don’t mean to, but this was one of those times. Surprisingly, I really loved it though and I’m really really interested in learning more about plant science and plant medicine.

So we all sat in a circle- Corrine, myself, and a few other ladies. The first of 3 teas that we drank was a jasmine- pink rose- and lotus tea. We started off by meditating, then we introduced ourselves to the tea (this in of itself is a whole other article), we took in the aroma of the tea, and then we slowly sipped it. We let it sit in our bellies for a bit and then we meditated with it some more until we felt words or saw colors, whatever it was we wrote them down. These were the words I felt. If I learned anything from this experience it was that everything carries with it an energy, and each day the things that we do shift that energy. By the end of the tea ceremony, 3 teas after, and an hour later, my energy had shifted from feeling overwhelmed and rushed, to a more calm and grounded feeling. It was really interesting, you should try it out some time, even if you’re a skeptic like me.

Mercado Segrado
This was my view from our picnic tree as I lay out, toes in the grass, listening to folk music on a sunny Sunday afternoon before we headed back home. It was beautiful and peaceful, so if you get a chance to get out this week do it! Nature can totally be cool!

Have you been to this kind of festival before? How about tea ceremonies? Too cooky for you or would you try it? I’ll leave my tea suggestions in another article for you all about tea ceremonies and energy shifts if you like, so let me know in the comments!

love, Jess