A new Baltic Booty car boot sale is coming to Baltic Triangle

A new car boot sale is coming to the Baltic Triangle from the team behind the Botanical Garden and Sub Rosa bars.

Baltic Booty will launch on Sunday March 26 on Kings Dock Street, next to Black Lodge Brewery and just a few minutes’ walk from the waterfront.

An initial 20 spaces for sellers have already been booked and Ped Hunter, whose idea it is, hopes it’s something that can get bigger over the next few months and become a regular attraction.

Ped Hunter said:

“I think there’s a massive desire for Sunday activities in the area and I do love a car boot and the whole culture around it because it’s all about reusing.

“A lot of the Baltic can be for visitors coming into the city but there are also lots of people who live here who want to get up on a weekend and do something.

“I sit on the Baltic CIC board and we’re looking at how we make it more destination Baltic so you have a wider experience, and people can explore these amazing different sites where they might not have been before and see things going on.”

Ped said “one of the big advantages” of Baltic Booty is bargain hunters won’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to get their pick of things.

Unlike a lot of car boot sales, it’s on from 12 midday to 4pm, so people can comfortably fit it into their day.

Ped added:

“We’ve pushed the times back because for me, car boots are normally a bit early in the morning so this way you can have a walk around, Black Lodge will be open next door, and the guys from Canteen will be doing nice pizzas.”

“It’s just next to Sub Rosa, on a large yard that was previously used as the wood mill, and it’s got really good access because it’s about a 4-minute walk from the Albert Dock and 6 minutes to Cains, plus there’s a really big car park.”

With a city-wide push on reducing waste, reusing and recycling, he said there’s already been a “positive supportive response” from Mayor Jo Anderson and the council.

And hopefully Baltic Booty could become not just somewhere for locals to head on Sunday afternoon, but tourists looking for a more authentic reminder of their visit too.

Per Hunter continued:

“A car boot sale like this is the type of thing you go to when you’re on holiday and every other major European city has them. I think it’s just really interesting because they give you much more of a connection to the people who live there.

“Especially this year, as we open ourselves up to Eurovision, it’d be nice to think that visitors to the city will be able to see a lot of these small trinkets and treasures that they can take back with them knowing they’ve already been through the cycle once.

“We’re aiming for last Sunday of every month as a starting point and then the idea is to add in some more dates depending on the weather. We’ve gone with a manageable amount of spaces for sellers at first so we can grow into it happily over the months.

“We really just want to make something good then see how people interact with it and what things work there.”

The launch of Baltic Booty coincides with the team reopening Sub Rosa on Saturday March 18, and Botanical Garden less than a week later on Friday March 25.

And, although it’s starting off relatively small, a large outdoor site means there’s plenty of potential to expand.