Parkside Gallery will hold its 12th annual Christmas Bazaar from now until January 2, 2021.
Organized each year by Parkside Gallery’s giftshop manager Claudia Ring, the bazaar is a chance for local artists and craftspeople to sell their wares and for community members to do some local Christmas shopping. This year, Ring said people can buy jewelry, felting, paintings, pottery, woven goods and Christmas-themed items.
“We want to promote the local artists and give them an opportunity to sell their work and make more,” Ring said.
By her count, there are currently around 20 artists featured in the bazaar this year. The makeup of the artists is something of a “work in progress,” she said, with artists invited to come in and bring more work to sell, while the students of Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School will be bringing in some wares of their own in the next few weeks.
Ring said it’s exciting to be hosting the bazaar this year and added many people enjoy coming multiple times to see what new things have been added to the collection. For many of them, she said it’s become a tradition.
“I don’t think we have to talk about the (importance of shopping local). That’s self-explanatory,” Ring said. “We want to honour our local artists and our local community.”
The artists get 75 percent of every sale made, Ring added, with the rest going toward supporting Parkside Gallery and renovating the building.
The bazaar is typically shut down on Christmas Eve but Ring said a lot of people may have company this year and want to show their guests what the community has to offer. As a result, they will keep it open until Jan. 2 although it will be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Parkside Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
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