ONTARIO – More than 50 vendors will be on hand Friday, Nov. 11, and Saturday, Nov. 12, for the sixth annual Fill Your Sleigh Holiday Bazaar at Four Rivers Cultural Center.
The free event will feature custom crafts, lotions, clothing, custom wood products, quilts, Tupperware and Scentsy products.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.
The bazaar grows in popularity and participation each year, said Tanya Navarrete, center marketing and development director.
“The response is really exciting,” she said.
The cultural center sold out of vendor slots quickly.
“We still have people reaching out to be in this holiday bazaar but we are at capacity,” said Navarrete.
She said the event allows the cultural center to be a link between customers and local merchants.
“My favorite part of the bazaar is being that bridge for the vendors and the community. What I also love about our particular bazaar is some of these vendors have been with us since the first bazaar,” said Navarrete.
This year organizers decided to expand the bazaar to two days. In the past it was held just on Saturday.
“We made that decision, for one, to give those people who cannot come on Saturday an opportunity to visit us. We also made the decision to see what the response will be from the community,” she said.
Navarrete said one advantage to the bazaar is its uniquely local flavor.
“You don’t have to drive to Boise to do some holiday shopping,” said Navarrete.
Residents, she said, have come to depend on the bazaar as a way to get ahead of the holiday shopping season.
“They trust it will be quality vendors that they are interested in purchasing from,” said Navarrete. “We are always looking to showcase our local vendors and giving them an opportunity to be out in the community.”
The holiday bazaar isn’t the only important holiday event scheduled at the cultural center this month.
A performance of “The Nutcracker” is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 19. A tea party is slated before the ballet at 5 p.m. at the cultural center. Both events, said Navarrete, are already sold out.
News tip? Contact reporter Pat Caldwell at [email protected]
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