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Black Friday shopping alternative draws hundreds from across Edmonton

WATCH ABOVE: Black Friday is all about drawing in customers, but it does turn some people off. An event in Edmonton encouraged people to buy nothing, but didn't walk away empty handed. Vinesh Pratap explains. – Nov 24, 2017

Just before 11 a.m. on Black Friday, people in Edmonton were lined up — ready to give and ready to get.

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“I like the painting,” Catherine Kew explained, showing her haul from a swap shop style event held at the Strathcona Community League.

“I just think it’s a great idea.”

READ MORE: Despite the deals, some say Black Friday is losing its lustre

The idea has been around for the last 10 years. The “Buy Nothing Day” free market was hosted by the Kiwanis Club of South Edmonton.

“The concept here is, it’s free to bring it in, it’s free to take it out,” Richard Le Sueur told Global Newsas people milled about the busy community league hall. He added cheekily, “and we tell people it’s not free to complain because everything is free.”

“You can bring it down, drop it off.”

On offer is a range of items from Christmas decorations, to clothing, toys and books.

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“For the amount of goods that are out there going into the garbage, this is kind of a way to battle that,” Rob Ritchie said. He came to the market to drop a few items off, but easily found some stuff he was also looking for.

“It gets people out and builds that community,” Catherine Kew said.

READ MORE: Are Amazon’s Black Friday deals as good as they seem? We checked

The Kiwanis Club hosts the event as a way to engage the community so people learn about who they are and what they do.

“We do programs for kids. We have service leadership programs. We’re well known for that,” Le Sueur said.

The market will run again on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. If anything is left after it’s done, it will either be donated or recycled.

Watch below: Chaos erupts as Black Friday shoppers rush store in South Africa

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