Jayhawk Fridays: Local Market for KU Students

0:00It's March 27. I'm Cory with the story, and this is Kansas News Today, your AI-powered local news. Starting next Friday, the University of Kansas campus will host a new event called J. Hawk Fridays. It's a small, open-air market right by the bronze J. Hawk statues on Asher Family Plaza, south of the Kansas Union. Small businesses selling handmade arts, crafts, big goods, and similar items can sit up there on the first Friday of each month. This builds on the University's yearly Sip and Shop craft fair, which has run for three years and pulls in over 50 vendors on weekends. But J. Hawk Fridays aims to catch more students during the week. Union staff got ideas from programs at schools like the University of North Texas, Texas State, and Florida State, even visiting one to check it out. Expect 10 to 20 vendors per market, with spaces at $75 for a 6x4-foot spot or $100 for 12x4. The union supplies tables and chairs, and they're pushing for farmers, market-style sellers alongside crafters like jewelry makers

1:03and woodworkers. Goods stay affordable for students, often under $35. Studio-run businesses join in too, and organizers are teaming up with the nearby Natural History Museum and Spencer Museum of Art for Summer. Programming, they also plan spots for local nonprofits to draw in K-12 kids and the broader community. J. Hawk Fridays run through October, creating a regular spot for campus and Lawrence folks to shop local and connect.