Established in April of 2013, Flea Fest is the brain child of creator, Lisa Daughenbaugh Sonnier, who as a kid was often toted around by her parents to antique stores, garage sales and flea markets.
While she didn't much care for those venues as a youngster, as time went on, she developed a passion and love for collecting and decorating with vintage decor and antiques, with an extra special bit
of love for mcm, art deco, and mid-century western/cowboy/ranch decor. Feeling that the vintage, repurposing, and weathered decor trends were growing, and living in the festival capitol of the
state, it seemed obvious that the people were longing for a festival that not only offered great food and music, as so many in the area do, but one that would also offer the added fun of shopping for
treasures, both old and new. Thus, the first Flea Fest was held in April of 2013. It was an instant success and has continued to grow and expand over the years. Being from a radio/marketing
background has given Lisa the edge to effectively get the word out to thousands, helping the event to grow to currently welcome approximately 15,000 shoppers, and over 300 vendors to each show. Lisa
also interjects her passion for vintage and unique decor into her creations through her interior design firm, Spaces Alive, which she established not long after the inception of Flea Fest. Offering
home staging, renovation project managing, event planning & aesthetics, commercial space design and even single room focused design, Lisa has established a portfolio and track record that keeps
her in high demand with her clients. With the success of Flea Fest, coupled with the interior designing work, Lisa admits she is one of the fortunate few who truly loves what she does for a living.
She is continually and eternally grateful to all of the wonderful vendors who make the show so fun and exciting, for the amazing support the community has shown, for the hard work and dedication of
her husband, Dwayne, who also doubles as the festival emcee, and son, Parker who helps in many ways. She also credits the amazing Flea Team, and credits them, and especially star team members such as
director of vendor operations, Traci Mobley, long-time show information director, Nancy McCluskey and family members, Dick and Rick Daughenbaugh (her father and brother, respectively) with being the
behind the scenes glue that holds everything together to make Flea Fest a well-oiled machine! She hopes that Flea Fest will continue to be around for years to come, and that it will continue to live
up to it's motto: "One Big, Happy Flea Market Event"!