Shipshewana Flea Market (May-Sept) — Attraction in Shipshewana

I love shipshewanna, been coming here yearly since I was 13 maybe and I'm 51 now, every year we make the trip. I've watched it continuously go down from a packed flea market to stalls and rows of being empty which saddens me. There use to be one of the best fruit and plant markets right up front and now its down to 3 vendors since they changed it to the middle of the market. There was some guy there yesterday, he was selling puppies, which i would never buy one from here since reports of them being sick usually go hand in hand, but this guy had them out, in the sun, 90 degree heat all day with no water and no shade, this was on Saturday june 21st. We reported it to one of the flea market workers, he was a man taking money at the car entrance line to park, he just kinda blew it off and said " its almost time to go for the day" seriously?? All day, laying in the hot sun, they looked half dead and someone did buy one and gave it water and it proceeded to drink alot of it. No monitoring of animal health or who is selling animals or puppies here and it wasn't an Amish guy. Went to town. One of the horse and carriages was operating. The bigger carriage with like 4 seats, the horse was bleeding from its leg, it had a huge gash down by his hoof , we pointed it out the Amish guy driving the carriage and he looked at it shrugged and walked away. It was actively bleeding and there was a puddle of blood with water where it looked like earlier it had been maybe washed off so it had been bleeding for a while. That horse should not have been able to continue working. I'm sure im judt being a " Karen " to some but I've watched this stuff go on for years and as a community it needs to do better with its animals. I know people look to horses as if their just ment for work but that doesn't mean they need to be abused or mistreated when they are hurt. I'm really saddened that there isn't someone who daily checks on the statuses of these animals throughout the day especially in 90-100 * heat it really makes me not want to continue to come here when I see this type of treatment and what is allowed to happen. I didn't notice it so much as a kid but as I've gotten older I have and I don't care what the upbringing or belief is in this community for animals and I know not everyone there is not like this? but things like this...

A fun 2-day trip away during this still closed up world. We arrived on a Thursday, stay across the street, and the town was nice and calm. Went to the Friday Flea Market and still not tons of people. I have been many times over the years and this is as empty, as far as vendors, I’ve ever seen it. Maybe with Covid, no one came out to sell their creations. Lots of kitchen gadgets and boxes of what looked like clearance or first run/slightly off products. My son was able to get a very nice leather belt, from a leather vendor, that the lady cut down to size and unfortunately put sharpie marker on! I should of said burn it, not use marker! Or we’d do it! I got myself a hat and a lanyard with a beach scene on it. Fun times! Can’t wait until they fill back up again, I miss the old days with all the booths filled up with crafts! Saturday in Shipshewana was crazy!!! People everywhere! I was glad we had already saw everything at the flea market! Also, don’t expect people to be wearing masks because most aren’t! It’s not required unless in the little...

If you like flea markets, you will LOVE this one. This is indeed the largest in the Midwest. There is even an auction house for antiques and another for livestock. I think the flea market prices are a bit greedy in some of the ships these days but there are lots of vendors and inventory to choose from so there are definitely good deals to find. Many of the vendors sell artesian items for mainly home and garden, there are lots of new in the box items, "as seen on tv" stuff, some costume jewelry, collectables and antiques, etc. There are a couple of food options but in my opinion the food wasn't out of this world. There used to be something of a farmers market as well but not so much these days. TAKE CASH. You could take around 3 hours if you walk through the entire place without heavy shopping. Bring a bag or a cart/wagon for your items. The walkways are somewgat jagged pebble/gravel and flat. You can rent an electric scooter if you need. Restrooms...