The annual holiday bazaar at the fairgrounds in Ontario will open this weekend. (The Enterprise/File).
ONTARIO – Get out your Christmas list for it’s time for one of the largest holiday bazaars in the area.
The annual holiday bazaar at the Malheur County Fairgrounds begins its two-weekend run Friday and Saturday and will showcase more than 40 vendors selling items from chocolates, towels, pots and pans, perfumes to wood and metal works.
The bazaar opens on Friday at 11 a.m. and runs until 7 p.m.
On Saturday, the event starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m.
The event continues Dec. 11 and Dec. 12 with the same hours.
“It should be fun,” said Lynelle Christiani, fairgrounds manager.
The big theme this year, said Christiani, is safety.
With the Covid epidemic in full swing across the county, Christiani said there will be a number of measures to guard against the spread of the infection.
Christiani said one big change for the event, held in Commercial Building, will be its size.
The event will be limited to 50% capacity.
“We can only have 100 people in the building at one time. We will have it fenced off inside so you can only come in one way and go out one way. We will be counting everyone going in or out. We will have (Covid) information posted,” said Christiani.
Christiani said vendors and shoppers will be required to wear a mask.
“We have someone hired to go through the building to sanitize everything,” said Christiani.
Christiani said the annual visit from Santa Claus during the event will not happen this year.
Christian the event should be “a really good show.”
“But we want everyone to be safe. We want to have a show but don’t want to sacrifice people’s health,” said Christiani.
Christiani said there the event will “probably have 25% new vendors.”
Readers can find more information about local events on Page 2.
News tip? Contact reporter Pat Caldwell at [email protected].
HOLIDAY SPECIAL: Get a full year of access to the digital service of the Malheur Enterprise at a 25% savings. No news organization can match our quality and depth of coverage of Malheur County. This is a limited time offer you can get HERE.