By: Mike Koury | Woodward Talk | Published July 8, 2025
FERNDALE — A brand-new event will be hitting downtown Ferndale later this month.
Ferndale Market Days will take place over the course of two days, Saturday, July 19, and Sunday, July 20, in the Ferndale Area District Library’s municipal parking lot.
The event came to be after another big July event, Pig & Whiskey, canceled its plans to take place this year.
With a void in the month of July, the city decided to create an event to bring visitors to Ferndale, that being Market Days.
“This was a concept that is not as complicated to organize as you would a festival, where you’re having amusement rides and music and everything,” Director of Special Events Michael Lary said. “It’s focused more on just bringing people down to Ferndale, do some shopping and then while you’re here, browse around the downtown local businesses, enjoy a PATIO Zone drink at one of the local bars or restaurants so you can mingle. That was really the primary focus.”
The two-day event will have more than 30 vendors selling a variety of goods including art, jewelry and vintage clothing, many of which are handmade.
Angela Boone, of Angelique Collections, said she’s excited to be partaking in the market as it gives her an opportunity to meet people and for them to get to know her brand. This will be her first time participating in a market in Ferndale.
“I sell online, and so when people are able to see it in person, they know the brand and then it’s like if they do want to shop online, then they’ll already know what it is, what it looks like, what it feels like,” she said.
Boone, a Detroit resident, makes handcrafted handbags from canvas and leather, which she also embellishes and paints. She started making bags for fun in 2009, but later made it her business in 2013 after she lost her job and her father suffered a stroke.
Now going on for 12 years, Boone said the business has its ups and downs but things are going well.
“I actually started out creating stuff from newspapers and magazines, what I had around the house,” she said. “I grew into leathers and canvas, and then I had a store in downtown Detroit, a small boutique. And then when my mom got sick, I had to let that go and take care of her. So, I was just doing everything online and just trying to figure it out. So, I say these markets are the best way for me to get out here and for people to meet me.”
There also will be food vendors, a DJ and a children’s play area. If the event proves to be successful, Lary said he can see it expanding in the future.
“We’re going to start it in the library lot, which is going to be a nice space,” he said. “If it grows, we have plenty of more space in downtown to take advantage of in the future if we need to.”
The hours will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. July 19 and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 20.