Fernie Craft Fairs is opening the upcoming season with their Fall Craft Fair on Oct. 17. The fair will be held at the Fernie Community Centre from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Event organizer Tanya Malcolm said that the fall fair will be a variety of vendors to Fernie. “There is quite a variety. There is quite a bit of jewellery, there is soap making, there is artwork, there is preserves and there is even a few farmers coming, which is nice, for produce and organic meat,” she said.
While the majority of the vendors are from the Elk Valley, there are a few who are travelling to Fernie to sell their goods. Malcolm has registered vendors from Lethbridge, Calgary and Nelson.
Malcolm said that with the increasing interest for people to buy local goods and embark on DIY projects, craft fairs have gained popularity.
“The past few years, anyways, there seems to be a constant flow of traffic so that’s always good,” she said. “I think that the whole buying local, repurposing, DIY-ing is really trendy right now, so the craft fair has become even more popular.”
The fair will feature a concession booth organized by the Fernie Christian Youth Group, who also help with the set up and organization of the booths.
This is the first craft fair of a series of six fairs. The Twilight and Holiday fair will be held in November, followed by a last minute holiday fair in December, cleverly named In the Nick of Time. Two more are held early next year, with a fair to coincide with the Griz Days Festival and another held prior to Mother’s Day.
“I think it’s a nice parallel to the Farmer’s Market for both the community and the vendors,” she said, adding that it benefits many of the vendors that sell their crafts and works at the Mountain Markets as well as the craft fairs. “There was a pretty big gap we noticed between the Griz Days and the Canada Day, so we threw another in there.”
Malcolm admitted to not being a crafty person herself, but still has a love for homemade goods. “I’m what they call a DIY wannabe,” she said.
Registration is still open to vendors who are interested in setting up a booth and for future fairs. For more information on registration or schedules, visit Ferniecraftfairs.com