by Kate Newnam
Carrboro Commons Editor

Carrboro’s Really Really Free Market is putting the free back into the American free market system.

An event intended for everyone, the market draws a crowd of people to the Carrboro Town Commons on the first Saturday of each month to share what they don’t need and take what they do.

On Sept. 1, people from all walks of life met for an afternoon of really free thinking. From 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. the Town Commons buzzed with people doing everything from picking out new clothes to chatting with neighbors to painting white sheets. While some were newcomers, many were Free Market regulars that keep on coming back.

Free Market regular Erin Fekete joins others in painting a sheet found among the market donations. Fekete has been attending the market since it began in 2004.
Kate Newnam photo

Sandwiched between a food stand and a sheet painting, market regular and Carrboro resident Dave Deming contributed to the market by carving wooden spoons and playing his banjo.

“My wife and I came by for the first time in 2005 and were amazed at all the free stuff,” Deming said. “It’s helping people who need it.”

Coming to every market for the past year, Deming has also provided the crowd with firewood and another one of his musical talents, the playing of a jew’s-harp.

“One Saturday I was teaching people how to play the jew’s-harp, which is a small folk instrument made of metal,” Deming said. “There was this one kid who had a beautiful tone right away. It turned out that he and his mother were from Russia where the women played the harp and she had taught her son. We had never seen each other before but met at the market. Every time it’s like that.”

As Deming played his banjo, Carrboro citizen Janet Bratter staged a personal protest with a sign on her bicycle. Bratter was banned from Weaver Street Market for violating a restraining order and used the market as an opportunity to be heard.
“The only way I’ll be heard is to protest on my own,” she said.

Next to Bratter, another regular, Erin Fekete of Carrboro, painted a sheet with other market-goers. After dropping off her garbage bag of donated items, Fekete got involved in the painting after someone found a sheet and suggested people decorate it.

Finished with his spoon carving, Carrboro resident Dave Deming plays his banjo for the Free Market visitors. This was his first time bringing his banjo.
Kate Newnam photo

“I’ve been coming since the first one, and it really has progressed so much,” Fekete said. “A lot more people come now, and there’s more variety in the things they bring.”

Fekete found out about the market when the organizers brought flyers to Queer Youth Drop-In Night, an event hosted by Internationalist Books in Chapel Hill.

“After more people started to come, people got so enthused about it,” she said. “I have a friend that literally gave the shirt off his back because someone asked him for it. It’s a really great atmosphere and it really opens up your mind.”
Fekete was joined by friend and market newcomer Jess Johnson of Chapel Hill.
“This is actually my first time, but I’m going to try to come to every one from now on,” Johnson said. “I’m sure many people have thought of this also, but it’s amazing Carrboro really made it happen.”

The organizers of the Really Really Free Market modeled their event after one they participated in during the 2003 protests against meetings for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in Miami.

“In the midst of clashes with police, the first Really Really Free Market was organized as an alternative activity for protesters partly to make fun of the discourse of ‘free markets’ being used by FTAA advocates, and partly to see if it was possible to create a temporary gift economy in a public setting,” said Vinci Daro, one of the organizers.

After seeing that a free market could actually work, the Triangle participants decided to try it at home.

“We thought it should be something that everyone in the community could contribute to, interpret however they want, and enjoy,” Daro said.

Although the market has faced troubles with regulation and restriction, according to Daro the real story of the Really Really Free Market is about the “ongoing creativity and generosity of community members.”

“Those who have things and skills to offer experience the pleasures of
direct giving; those who need things and services experience the pleasures of direct
receiving.”

To participate in the next Really Really Free Market, visit the Carrboro Town Commons, located at 301 W. Main St. on Oct. 6 between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.