It is the Mecca of bargain hunters and second-hand buyers: after a two-year Corona break, the Bavarian Red Cross flea market is back on the Theresienwiese on April 30th. Thousands of visitors have been making the pilgrimage to Bavaria’s largest flea market every year for three decades. Usually more than 2000 sellers offer their goods there. This year the organizers only expect up to 1600 exhibitors because the number of dealers has been limited. A construction fence will be erected around the site on Saturday. Participation in the flea market is also only possible after prior registration.
Getting up early and fighting for the best sales space are no longer necessary: Exhibitors can reserve a space right away via the BRK registration portal. However, experienced flea market sellers might be surprised at the new categorization of the stands. Due to official requirements and the Corona rules, the reservation of trestle tables has been replaced by a metric system in which exhibitors pay by square meter. This also has an effect on the prices: According to a BRK spokeswoman, the meter price has fallen, but compared to the simple trestle tables for 18 euros, exhibitors in the lowest category now pay 60 euros for a stand. The fees for the stands and parking spaces go to the Red Cross, for example for the training and equipment of the volunteers.
For the organizers, these innovations mean more work than in previous years, explains BRK spokeswoman Andrea Frauscher. The organizers are not expecting a large number of visitors after the two-year break, the decisive factor being the weather. However, security forces are deployed at the entrances to direct the flow of visitors. Exhibitors can unload their goods on the Theresienwiese as early as Friday evening. Then it’s time to give unloved things that have accumulated over the past few years a new home. If you want to grab the real treasures, you should be up early: From 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday you can stroll, browse and haggle. Visiting the flea market is free.