If you’ve got someone who’s hard to buy for, has it all or “doesn’t need anything” this Christmas, the Winter Artisan Market will have plenty in store for holiday shoppers searching for unique gifts.
For the third year, the city of Port Coquitlam will fill Leigh Square Community Arts Village with vendors selling handmade jewlery, pottery, wood crafts, textiles and prepared foods and drinks.
Organized by Julia Zado and Tabitha McLoughlin, who will also run the Coquitlam Christmas Craft Fair next weekend at the Poirier Forum, the market opens Friday and includes a performance by the Felice Choir at 4 p.m. plus gingerbread decorating and a Terry Fox Library story time.
Saturday, the market reopens at 10 a.m. with more shopping in The Outlet and the Gathering Place — and in a tent in between — with food trucks serving in the parking lot, a PoCo Heritage bake sale, Santa photos (by donation), face painting and entertainment from the Scrooge Horns at 1 p.m., Silver Chord Choir at 2:15 p.m. and the Beauty Shop Dolls at 3 p.m.
And in the afternoon, the Downtown Port Coquitlam Business Improvement Association will keep revellers warm with free hot cocoa.
Zado and McLoughlin said they sifted through 100 applications from Lower Mainland vendors and selected 41 producers and suppliers for the market. “We were looking for variety and quality,” Zado said, adding, “I think it’s different from other markets because the emphasis is really on local.”
Potter Laura Giesbrecht, who grew up in downtown PoCo and is a past artist-in-residence for the city, has taken part in each Winter Artisan Market since it started in 2016. A potter for 12 years under the brand Sister Earth Clay Works, she said she takes part because “it’s local and I’m local. It gives me a chance to connect with buyers and talk to them directly.”
The market is also tied to the city’s kickoff of Christmas programs, At 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, Mayor Brad West and council will light the bandshell while PoCo Heritage launches its 6th annual Christmas Tree Festival.
Other seasonal activities include:
• Dec. 7 from 10:15 to 11:15 p.m.: Youth late night skate at PoCo rec complex, with skaters in ugly Christmas sweaters;
• Dec. 14 from 6 to 8 p.m.: Holiday turkey dinner at Hyde Creek rec centre;
• Dec. 15 from 9 to 11:30 a.m.: Breakfast with Santa at Wilson Centre;
• Dec. 16 from 1:15 to 3:45 p.m.: Skate with Santa at PoCo rec complex;
• Dec. 18 from 7 to 7:45 p.m.: CP Rail Holiday Train terminus with the Sam Roberts Band, Kelly Prescott and Tracey Brown, at the West Coast Express station;
• Dec. 24: Christmas Eve skate with Santa at PoCo rec complex;
• and Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve skate at PoCo rec complex.
Donations of non-perishable food will be accepted at all events for the Share food band.
Admission to the Winter Artisan Market is free. Visit pocochristmasfair.com. For more details on the Christmas fun, go to portcoquitlam.ca/christmas.
jcleugh@tricitynews.com
