The Adderley Street Flower Market

18 Jul

The Adderley Street Flower Market has rightly earned it’s fame and status as an essential part of Cape Town’s history. Having been established in it’s current location (tucked in an alleyway called Trafalgar Place) for over 100 years, it has withstood the test of time due to businesses being passed down within families for generations. This flower market is one of the few places that black business people were allowed to trade under the Apartheid laws. In the '60's, the government tried to make the road a "whites only" area, but did not succeed, due to the powerful protests of the flower sellers and because of the power in this community, it’s still thriving today!

Flower sellers have traded in Trafalgar Place and along Adderley Street in central Cape Town since at least the mid-1880s. From the beginning of the Twentieth Century the flower market has been referred to as an essential part of Cape Town’s culture. Despite it’s reputation, not much is known about the history of the market and the people involved in it’s trade. Although the flower market is such a popular tourist destination, no timeline exists to inform people about the exceptional and colourful history of this market.

The trade of flower selling is often referred to as an 'old tradition' and is thereby ignored that the people involved in the trade have actively made their business possible, often under difficult circumstances. The Adderley Street flower market is one of few places in the inner city of Cape Town where black business people have operated independently for over a century. Being largely excluded from careers in botany and horticulture during apartheid, flower farming and selling were occupations in which these communities successfully made a living by working with flowers. Many of them are very knowledgeable in plant matters, but much like debates about nature conservation and access to natural resources, the disputes over flowers and the regulation of their trade were never apolitical, but almost completely influenced by the distribution of power during that period.

(Above) Flowers being sold at Adderley Street Market

But what has that got to do with me?

When I was younger, I worked as an intern for a wedding company in Cape Town. I was asked to do a solo wedding so that the bride could save some money and so that I could gain some event experience. The best place to get good quality but fairly priced flowers in Cape Town is Adderley Strreet, so naturally I took a trip to the Flower Market and met two sisters selling flowers. They were known locally as “The Sisters of Adderley Street” and after getting talking took me to the back of the market and taught me to make flower arrangements. They taught me skills that had been passed down in their families for generations, I felt so honoured.

After over a century of running these markets in Adderely Street, I believe that they have started branching out to the Oranjezicht Market on the V+A Waterfront. This gorgeous market sells artisan foods, homewares and organic local produce.