Tis the Season... for Holiday Markets.

Athens supports many holiday artist markets this time of year, and all seem to get a good turnout - both with quality artisans and guests looking to buy handmade for their holiday giving.


Leading off the 2010 season was the Athens Indie Craftstravaganzaa, held earlier this year than usual to avoid conflicts with other markets. This show has grown in just three years to a regionally known show, attracting artists from as far away as Chicago, TN and SC. The earlier date also offered much nicer weather, it was sunny and warm rather than cold, windy and wet as the previous December shows have invariably been. Both guests and vendors seemed to like the schedule change, so we think Serra plans to try to work it into November every year. 

This year's Athens Indie Craftstravaganzaa featured a fantastic food area. We had covered seating, with fresh hot food. The Caledonia was open to serve drinks and cocktails as well. 

The New Farmington Depot Gallery held their first annual Holiday Market this past Dec. 4th and 5th. This space is fairly new to the area, but I think it is one to watch.  The restoration of the old Depot and grounds are progressing very nicely.  Chris Hubbard gave me a tour of the grounds and showed me how much progress  has been made.  This property is historically significant, and not just for the depot. I'm keeping my eyes on these artists. 


The OCAF Market in Oconee covered two days  and offered work from the 'Artland of Georgia'. This event covers three days and fills two good sized buildings. 


The 283 Holiday Market was back this year but i didn't get to go to this one.  The show was scheduled for a Thursday, from 11am till 5pm.  Seems to me like that would cut working people out of attending. It did  me, anyway. 

New this year, the Clay Gardens Holiday Market, also known as Craftapalooza ran concurrently with the grand opening of the Clay Gardens Gallery. Music, fresh toasted pecans (straight out of the yard) and lots of wonderful people made this event a wonderful way to spend a sunday afternoon. They are renting studio space, with bathrooms, kitchen and access to kilns included.  If you are interested, check their facebook page.  The website is not up yet, but they are working on it.  

Also new this year was the Oh Boy! Artist Market and right across the street, the Treehouse Kids and Craft Markets just this weekend. 




The Flicker Bar Market is coming up, next Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010. I think I'll be sharing a space with a good friend, drop in and say hello if you are in the area. 

Athens Indie Craftstravaganzaa CALL FOR ARTISTS!

Athens Indie Craftstravagazaa is now accepting applications for our Holiday 2010 Craftstravaganzaa.

We are looking for artists and makers of all persuasions, from fine arts to handcrafts. Quirky, raw, & innovative arts especially favored.

Visit our website http://www.athensindiecraftstravaganzaa.com for show information, photo galleries of past markets, vendor photos and profiles and Craftstravaganzaa applications.


We've also got a new blog that I hope you find very helpful and interesting. With it I hope to share some of my online  marketing experience, tips and hints about social media marketing and more.

http://athenscraft.blogspot.com/

Craftstravaganzaa May 1 - Athens, GA

Spring Craftstravaganzaa  will be here in a couple of weeks. We will set up this May 1 at the corner of Clayton and Pulaski streets in downtown Athens, GA.  That's the lot behind the 40watt.

We are pretty excited about this years Spring Craftstravaganzaa.  Serra got the Caledonia on board, so it will be open for drinks and food on the patio. We have almost 100 individual vendors, all offering their handmade goodies.  DJ Kurt Wood is returning, to spin his fabulous collection of Soul, RB and dance music.  We also have a kids tent and excellent edibles from sugarbeet pastry.

Visit our website www.athensindiecraftstravaganzaa.com for show information, downloadable fliers, photo galleries of past markets, vendor photos and profiles and more.

I hope you can help us to spread the word, through emailing your mailing lists, myspace, facebook, twitter, and whatever other creative ways you can come up with to get folks out!  We also have  fliers that can be downloaded from our website, paste a few around your neck of the woods.

Athens Indie Craftstravaganzaa

We had a great day today at Craftstravaganzaa.   We were  worried about the weather, as a lot of rain and storms had been predicted.  Saturday dawned grey and overcast, but by 10 am the sun was shining and the sky was the prettiest shade of strong cyan.  It was a little cool and somewhat breezy, but we were all very relieved that it did not rain.

We had quite a turnout today, a lot of visitors and a lot of people buying.   The interest in buying  handmade and buying local is strong in Athens and that makes me happy.  Athens is a very creative community, and it makes me proud to see so many beautiful artistic things being offered.  Craftstravanganzaa is Athens' largest handmade market and I think the best.

I took over 300 photos today at the show and will work on getting them cropped, corrected, and published on the website as quickly as I can.  It will surely be several days, as that is  lot of work to do all those gallery pages.   I'll also post them on Flicker, and some on our Facebook fan page, so check them out.

Day two of Craftstravaganzaa is tomorrow, from noon until 5-ish.