A new and exciting scene is cropping up around Norwich. With its backstreets filled with a growing number of vintage clothing and record shops, not to mention thrilling independent venues for gigs, the city is fast becoming home to an array of new and exciting alternative acts. Norwich Arts Centre, having been a major influence in hosting a gargantuan range of musical and artistic talent, is now proving to be at the very cutting edge of the developing indie/alternative scene. Today, however, brings the maddog writers and DJs (we were playing in the bar – it's just better that way) to one of Norwich’s freshest and most exciting events: Clutter City Market.

The market is run by sisters Kelly and Mel Robb, who have been working on the project for just under a year. Focusing on original and unique items including clothes, jewellery, badges, sewn items, paper goods, prints, paintings, comics,

vintage accessories, zines and more, the market really makes you feel a hundred miles away from the mass produced fashion of the high street shops. Clutter City Market attracts hundreds of people, seeking out all that is different in the way of home-made goods. On entering the event it’s hard not to be distracted, like a magpie in a cutlery factory, by the shiny and carefully crafted products on show. As ever, you may very well end up spending money you just do not have. The talent on display from across the region is absolutely awe-inspiring, including illustrations from Gemma Correll, t-shirt and print design by Morley Mouse House and vintage 50s accessories by Flamingo Amy, and have really set the standard for quality and uniqueness. Most impressive, however, is the work of local jeweller and clothing designer, Eclectic Eccentricity, whose stall attracts a huge number of indie girls.  

And if all of this gets your appetite whet… there’s more! Clutter City holds a regular charity lucky dip in which each stallholder kindly wraps and donates a selection of their heart-warming goodies for the picking of the public. At just £2 a pop all the proceeds go to local charities across the region. The response from creative independent crafters / artists and designers from around the region and beyond is overwhelming and has kept the market fresh and exciting. In return it provides a much-needed platform for traders to showcase and sell their work, and to offer the public an alternative to tawdry high street shopping.

Clutter City Market will be celebrating its first birthday on the 28th of March, following a successful year of trading quirky handmade goods by talented arts and crafters. There will be also be great musical accompaniment with live music and DJs in the café bar to add just that little bit more to your shopping experience. This time round, they have Lab-coat wearing lo-fi popsters Alto 45, Korg synth lovers Royal McBee, Checkout Girls and Norwich's finest, Milkbar DJs playing the best in 60s beat, garage rock, mod, and 80s synth pop! So make sure you check it out for yourself. Seeing, in this case, truly is believing, and what’s more is, it's completely free entry all day.

www.cluttercity.norwichartscentre.org.uk