Every third Thursday from May to October, shoppers can be found snaking between booths set up outside the Shawnee City Hall building to peruse the wares of dozens of local vendors. They gather here for Moonlight Market, an event held by the city of Shawnee that brings together local vendors and musicians every month. 

Doug Donahoo, the communications director for the city of Shawnee, feels that Moonlight Market brings the entire Kansas City Metro area together.

“We have folks who come from all over our neighboring communities in Johnson County and from the other side of the state line to shop, eat, stroll around, listen to live music and just have a good time. It’s really a great opportunity for the community to come together,” Donahoo said.

Donahoo believes Moonlight Market gives local vendors of all ages the opportunity to reach a greater audience.

“We have some folks that are on the retired scale of it and we have folks that are doing it as a second job,” Donahoo said. “We have kids that are even younger than that, in high school and college, [who] are doing it as a hobby that they’ve also managed to turn into a money-making opportunity.” 

Junior Amanda Makalous’s business, “Mandy’s Sweets and Things,” is one of these high school vendors. Makalous started her cookie business at the beginning of this summer and has gone to several Moonlight Markets since.

“I thought it’d be cool and kind of something different to do with my time,” Makalous said. “I knew I would have a lot of extra time in the summer to explore new things and I thought that [Moonlight Market] would be a fun way to do it.”

Senior Cat Rivas went to the event on Thursday, Oct. 16 and enjoyed seeing what local businesses had to offer.

“I thought the coolest part was seeing all the different businesses that are so local,” Rivas said. “I didn’t know we had that much variety, and it was cool to see everybody exploring.”

For Rivas, buying from local businesses feels better than making purchases at chain businesses. 

“There’s just something extra special when you buy something from a local small business than from a chain,” Rivas said. “A local coffee shop is just a little better than Starbucks or Dutch Bros.”