Five years ago, we didn't know what La Flea Affair would become. We had an idea, a city we believed in, and a feeling that Lucknow deserved more spaces where homegrown brands could find their audience, young entrepreneurs could take a chance, and people could come together for something beyond the usual weekend plans.

When we first thought of La Flea Affair, the idea was fairly simple. We wanted to do something that would bring us closer to our audience and thereby promote our App.

At Knocksense, we were reaching people every day through our content, but we wanted to meet them outside our Instagram feeds. We wanted to create a space where we could interact with our audience and help them communicate with us on our platforms & events was one of them.

There was another thing we wanted to do. We wanted to give homegrown brands a place to sell their products.

This was five years ago, when the D2C space was still relatively new. Setting up an online store, getting discovered and figuring out how to sell directly to customers wasn't as straightforward as it is today. We felt an offline marketplace could make things a little easier for these brands, while giving people in Lucknow a chance to discover businesses they might not have come across otherwise.

We also wanted a stage for independent music.

Concerts featuring established artists were already happening in Lucknow. But we were interested in the other end of the spectrum — indie artists who were just getting started, local bands trying to find an audience, and musicians whose songs were beginning to travel through Spotify and Instagram Reels.

So we decided to make them part of the experience.

Over the last five years, our stage has featured more than 150 local artists from Lucknow and Uttar Pradesh, along with emerging independent artists. It's been one of the things we've continued to make space for with every edition.

That was the thinking behind La Flea Affair. What followed over the next five years, of course, wasn't always as straightforward as the idea itself.

Here are five things the journey has taught us.

Fifteen days before our first edition, we had 10 stalls confirmed. Just 10.

The event had already been announced, but there wasn't much trust in us back then. The brands weren't exactly queuing up to put their money into an event nobody knew much about.

We were confident about the experience we wanted to create, even if we hadn't figured out every detail of how we'd get there. So we went back to the exhibitors with a different proposition. We'd charge a basic setup fee and take a commission on sales. They'd pay us the commission only when they actually sold something.

Essentially, we were asking them to take a chance on us, while taking some of the risk off their shoulders. And it worked. Over the next seven days, things started falling into place.

Getting exhibitors on board was only half the battle. We decided to make the event cashless, with customers purchasing tokens to pay at the stalls. In theory, it sounded great. In practice, we couldn't track sales properly, queues piled up at the token counter, and exhibitors wanted us to scrap the system. If we missed our commissions, we risked burning nearly 40% of our annual expense budget on a single event, while still having to pay our sound, light and decor vendors.

The next morning our team members and volunteers stationed themselves at every exhibitor kiosk, enabling on-the-spot token sales and tracking transactions, while the rest of the team handled ticket sales outside. It wasn't elegant, and it certainly wasn't part of the plan, but it got us through. That first edition taught us that sometimes, you have to stop worrying about what went wrong, roll up your sleeves and figure out what needs to be done next. And we've certainly got better at planning since then. At least, I'd like to think so.

Over the years, we've worked with first-time vendors, emerging musicians and people who were still figuring things out. More often than not, they've surprised us. Sometimes, someone doing a particular job for the first time puts in more thought and effort than someone who's been doing it for years. Experience definitely counts, but so does the willingness to learn and give it your best shot. You just need to guide people in the right direction and give them the room to deliver.

We've taken the same approach with our venues. DLF MyPad hadn't hosted an event before our first La Flea Affair there. Phoenix Palassio had hosted music events (we launched the event space with Knocksense Lucky Ali Live), but our first curtain-raiser for La Flea Affair was a different proposition. And when we chose UP Darshan Park, a venue that hadn't hosted an event before 2024, we were once again backing a space that was relatively untested. In hindsight, these decisions have worked out well for us. Maybe that's why we're still comfortable taking a chance on something new. Not every bet will pay off, but sticking only to what's already proven means you might miss out on something really good.

Not every edition will be a hit. Some days, the footfall may not be what you expected, sales might be slow, or things simply won't go as planned. That's part of organising events. But we've always believed that our relationship with homegrown brands and vendors shouldn't be defined by how one edition goes. Supporting them when business is slow, hearing them out, and working with them through the difficult days is just as important as celebrating the good ones. That's where trust is built, and it takes time.

Perhaps that's why, for our upcoming edition, we sold out 85% of our stalls within a week of announcing the event. For us, that's a bigger vote of confidence than any number we could put on a poster. Five years ago, we were trying to convince brands to take a chance on us. Today, many are willing to come on board because they know us and have seen us show up, edition after edition. That trust has taken five years to build, and it's something we don't take for granted.

Anyone can organise an event if they have the money to put it together. But getting people to care about it, come back for every edition, and make it a part of their own plans is a different story. That's what we've always wanted La Flea Affair to become: not just another event on the city's calendar, but a place people feel connected to.

Our Diwali edition is probably the best example. For many, La Flea Affair becomes a reunion of sorts — a place to meet friends, spend an evening together and make a few memories before the festivities begin. And it's not unusual for the same people to return two or even three times over the four days. They aren't necessarily coming back because there's something new to do every day. They're coming back because they enjoy being there. For us, that's when you know an event has become a destination.

Five years later, we're still learning.

La Flea Affair isn't the work of one person; it's the collective effort of everyone who has been a part of this journey. From the person cleaning the venue to the one distributing entry bands, each one of you has helped Knocksense build La Flea Affair into what it is today. If Knocksense has something to be truly proud of after these five years, it's the people who have stood by us and helped bring this idea to life. A heartfelt thank you to every single person who has been a part of this journey.

As we prepare to open the gates for our 12th edition, there's excitement, a fair share of nerves, and a much better understanding of what it takes to build something that lasts.

If there's one thing these five years have taught us, it's that a legacy isn't built in a single edition. It's built every time you choose to show up, do the work, listen to your community and try to make the next one better.

On 29th October, we show up again. And we hope to see you there.

You know the drill by now. Tickets are available on the Knocksense App (and Events website) and at the venue.

See you at La Flea Affair!