The holiday season is almost here! (I’ve already started listening to my holiday music…) This guide will help you decide where you’ll want to go to find your handmade gifts. All of these crafts shows are within Ontario. These are the top five holiday craft shows that I would visit this holiday season. You can get different experiences at each one and buy beautiful products at which ever ones you decide to check out. Hope you enjoy!!! Happy Holidays!
1. Makeology Holiday Fair
When: December 17th
Show Hours: 11:00 am until 5:00 pm
Where: Artscape Wychwood Barns, Toronto
Admission: $3, children under 12 free
Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1295340303865304/
This is the first one of Makeology Holiday Fairs! There are over 60 vendors with all unique handmade products. Do you love supporting locals? This is your chance to find unique gifts for yourself, and your family and friends. You will find handcrafted beauty products, food, accessories, baby products, prints, plants and pottery. Makeology is not only a market, but it is a growing community that is trying to support local artisans and craftspeople. They are doing this through craft shows and workshops. It is a one of a kind company supporting the community. You are bound to love the experience if you love supporting and interacting with unique makers.
2. The One of a Kind Christmas Show
When: November 23rd – December 3rd
Show Hours: Weekdays & Saturdays 10-9, Sunday 10-6, Shop Late Thursday November 30th 10-11 pm
Where: Enercare Centre Exhibition Place, Toronto
Admission: $15.00
Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/602903950099945/
At this unique show you will have the opportunity to visit 800 artisans at each of their vendor booths. What can you find at the show? The question is what can’t you find at the One of a Kind Christmas Show!? They organize the show beautifully by placing the artisans with other similar products, to allow your experience to go smoothly. You may get overwhelmed when you first enter the room, but just take it row by row. I suggest picking one end of the room to start with and work your way down each row. They are labeled A-Z, to make it easier on the shopper to go back to the booths they wanted to purchase products from. It typically takes me 2-3 hours to get through the show, because I love looking at what each vendor is selling. Some things you can find at the show are clothes, food, ceramics, home décor, body care, accessories, paintings, sculptures, plants and EVERYTHING ELSE. Entrance to get into the show is a little pricey, but I feel it is worth it for the experience and all of the amazing makers inside the show. You can also usually find coupons on other sites for tickets to the show. This is my favourite holiday market!
3. Toronto Christmas Market
When: November 16-December 23
Show Hours: Not open on Mondays, Tuesday-Thursday 12:00 pm – 9:00 pm, Friday 12:00 pm – 10:00 pm, Saturday 10:00 am – 10:00 pm, Sunday 10:00 am – 9:00 pm,
Where: The Distillery Historic District
Admission on weekends: $6.00, children 2 and under free
Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1031475350336251/
I go to this holiday market, more for the scenery than for the shopping, The Distillery District gets transformed into a winter wonderland. There’s a big gorgeous Christmas Tree, a million twinkly lights and small vendor booths that take you back to another time. It is free entry during the week up until Friday at 5:00 pm, so that is when I would recommend going. The space is romantic and extremely heartwarming. It is the perfect place to go to get the feeling of Christmas. Also the perfect place for a photo shoot :P
4. Etsy Holiday Market – Waterloo Region
When: November 25, 2017
Show Hours: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Where: RIM Park
Admission: Free
Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/278340715905910/
Looking for gifts to buy your friends before you all go home for Christmas Break? Head to the Etsy Holiday Market here in Waterloo to help you find the perfect gift for your friends, you can also take the opportunity to find gifts for your family that are unique. By attending this show you are supporting Etsy artisans from the Waterloo Region and surrounding areas. This allows you to see what people are creating in your local area. It also allows you to give unique and one of a kind handmade gifts for the holidays. You can see vendors selling home décor, jewelry, plants, winter accessories, body products and more at the show. Supporting locals always makes a gift feel more special. When we go home for the holidays we usually don’t want to spend the whole time shopping for presents, take the time and go check out this show to see if you can find gifts for at least a couple people on your list.
5. City of Craft
When: December 8th – 10th
Show Hours: Friday 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm, Saturday and Sunday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Where: The Theatre Centre, Toronto
Admission: $3.00
Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/City-of-Craft-11592029766/
City of Craft has really unique and beautifully handcrafted products. It is in its eleventh year of the show. Mainly local artisans will be the vendors at the show. You can see beautiful screen printing, embroidery, body products and jewelry all created by hand by locals. I always find really unique gifts at the City of Craft show; they have a more selected range of vendors because it is a smaller show. It allows you to find that perfect and beautiful handmade card or bar of soap. Each vendor is really unique and makes excellent products so you can’t go wrong!
There are so many more that you can check out! I would recommend looking on Facebook and searching, “Christmas markets,” or looking in your cities event page.