ONE HUNDRED YEAR OLD SHOPPING OPPORTUNITY

Imagine downtown Bowie on a warm, dusty August afternoon in 1893. It’s Friday and the relative calm of a typical 19th century day has been dramatically disrupted by the arrival of over six thousand horses. This particularly afternoon in fact was the first of what became an annual three-day trading extravaganza in which livestock growers from around the region converged on this tiny frontier town in order to barter, trade and hawk. The first Bowie trade days were so successful that each successive year attracted more and more traders, eventually turning the even into a carnival…literally. Medicine shows performers, vaudeville acts and peddlers of all sorts show up to entertain crowds and flog their wares.

A fast forward to the present finds Bowie sponsoring the Second Monday Trade Days, a giant flea market in the Bowie tradition that takes place the weekend before the second Monday of each month. You can still buy a horse (or a chicken for that matter) but in all likelihood you’ll find an abundance of must-have items from over 250 vendors that cover twenty acres and occupy their own permanent “settlement” called Trade City. Looking for antiques, collectibles, jewelry, coins, knives, or handcrafted furniture? This is the place. Or, if you’re the more utilitarian shopper, pick yourself up a pair of cluckers for a steady supply of fresh eggs. Either way, you’ll find them at Bowie’s Trade Days.