Oshawa kicked off the start to the Christmas season with its annual Bright and Merry Market downtown.
The Nov. 14 event started at Civic Square by city hall and ended at Memorial Park on Simcoe Street South. There were activities for kids, as well as 28 vendors along the street, along with a stage for entertainers to get the crowd excited for the annual tree lighting.
Catherine Richards, senior manager for Special Events and Culture for the City of Oshawa, said there is something for everyone at the Bright and Merry Market.
“I think it’s such a lovely launch to the season, and whether you’re interested in learning about an artist, or wanting to just spend time with your family at one of our partner’s organizations or you’re here to see Santa and the countdown to the park being lit, there’s something special for everyone,” she said.
The main event of the market was the vendors selling goods, from clothes and art to handmade items and jewelry, at booths along the street.
Kristina Petrie, owner of 3Dfordge.shop, sells sensory items and collectables created by her team using 3D printing. This was her third time at the market.
Petrie said this market is a great opportunity for small, local businesses such as hers.
“We are from Oshawa so it’s really good that we can come out, be in person and show what we have and promote where we’re selling in store and online,” she said.
Petrie has pop up stores at the Oshawa Centre, Vaughan Mills Shopping Centre, Upper Canada Mall and in the Beach area of Toronto.
“We get a lot of people that recognize us already because we have a fairly recognizable brand so they come back or they say ‘oh I’ve seen you in the mall,’ so that’s really exciting,” she said.
For Petrie, the joy she gets from seeing her clients happy is the most important part.
Richards says a lot of hard work and communication goes into making this market happen every year.
“We start very early in terms of making a call to vendors, so that is really the first step in terms of preparation of determining who wants to participate,” she said. “We have a committee meeting and we start to get those pieces early in the year to get going, in order to launch the festival here in November.”
The hard work paid off. Ormim Bari, who was at the Renewal by Andersen’s booth, called the vibe at the market “great,” and he likes the community focus.
“I like how it’s very community centric,” he said. “I haven’t seen a lot of people outside of the Durham Region, so it’s quite a refresher compared to other events I’ve been at.”
Bari highlighted how important events like these are to local small businesses,
“Come out and support your local community, support Canadian businesses, it’s always great to support Canada,” he said.
The LivingRoom Art Bus also offered free family crafts, the Durham Ways Paint a Bus offered an opportunity to paint on a giant yellow canvas, and the Canadian Tank Museum had a tank onsite.
Santa was also there to meet with children and accept their Christmas letters.