St. Albertans can do their Christmas shopping in just one stop at the holiday market run by the Chamber of Commerce.
St. Albert’s Indoor Christmas Farmers’ Market kicked off the day after the Snowflake Festival and is delivering dozens of vendors to the residents of the city.
This year, the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce will be hosting 75 vendors inside St. Albert Place throughout December. Chamber President and CEO Jennifer McCurdy said it’s a great opportunity to get products from the summer famers' market vendors in the winter.
“It's an opportunity to for people to still get some of the products from our market vendors, as well as draw people downtown to do their shopping in the downtown core,” McCurdy said.
Farmers market manager Roxane Closson said they have a variety of products this year, including personal care products, winery, some distilleries, lots of baking, clothing, stained glass jewelry, pies, baby clothes, kombucha, plenty of greenhouses selling plants and even pet treats.
The market is a bit smaller than the outdoor summer farmers' market hosted by the Chamber, which has roughly 270 vendors. This one also manages to fit almost 75 winter vendors into the lobby of St. Albert Place. Some of the vendors brave the cold and set up their tables outside of the building.
Closson said along with vendors, they have a station for coffee when you enter the building and Fat Franks is set up outside for shoppers wanting to grab some lunch.
“People will come down and visit some of their favourite vendors (to) do their Christmas shopping. There is something for everybody,” McCurdy said.
The market is so popular with vendors that Closson said they are not able to accommodate every person that applies.
The 2019 season runs for five Saturdays from Nov. 23 to Dec. 21 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. inside St. Albert Place.
Along with the Chamber Christmas Market, The Collective will be hosting its own Christmas market this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Collective, located at 43 St. Thomas Street, will host a market for residents to pick up handcrafted items created by local creators. Some vendors include Spent + Stone, which sells local handcrafted jewelry, Union 3D printing, and clothing made by ShopAsakeOge.
