The pandemic had impacted the Dunrea Flea Market the past few years but over the long weekend things appeared to be back to normal.

The flea market is held the first Sunday of September each year at the Boissevain Fairgrounds.

This year 1,723 people passed through the gates.

The Boissevain Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs host the flea market and money raised is split between the clubs and put back into community projects.

Brandt Bessant is part of the organizing committee and he was thrilled to see so many people at the fairgrounds on Sunday. “Very pleased with this year’s market because there’s a lot of worry and sleepless nights. Weather was great, we had lots of people and the vendors were happy.”

“We had higher anticipation this year because in 2021 we had more health rules to follow. This year crowds were up and so were vendor registrations. We had 120 vendors” said Bessant.

Amanda Naughton-Gale from Neepawa is a long time vendor and she says the flea market in Boissevain is a must attend sale for vendors. “We’ve been coming for years and were attending when the market was still held in Dunrea.”

“This is an amazing event for vendors. If you're looking for foot traffic this is the sale to be at. Last year they had 1,300 people and even more this year. There’s always a ton of stuff to see and the amount and quality of stuff for people to see.”

The Boissevain Kinettes and Kinsmen are smaller clubs and organizers say it’s always a struggle to find volunteers but they manage to make it work year in and year out. “We have a few outside people come to help us and we also have community minded people who step up and help us during our time of need. We’re always looking for extra help let’s put it that way” said Brandt Bessant.