The lineup was out the door for this year’s Craft Culture fair at Prospera Place.
More than 175 vendors from mostly B.C. and Alberta showed off their crafts, clothes and culinary treats.
“You can go to a mall and you can buy anything, but you don’t get to meet the makers. Here you get to meet them, you get to shake their hand. You can hear their stories,” Karalyn Lockhart, Craft Culture’s owner and producer, said.
Every time a shopper buys a product at Summerland’s Maple Roch, it gives work to those on long-term disability in the Okanagan, owner Roch Fortin said.
Maple Roch employs people who might otherwise struggle to find work, giving them jobs packaging products, he said.
“Anytime you buy local, you create a source of employment on the road for other individuals,” Fortin said.
Christmas markets like Craft Culture help grow customer loyalty and expand the business, he added.
“We export to Japan now, and we do some work with Sysco and those other companies. Without their support, we would not have grown to where we are right now.”
Gemma Watts began her own design business as a creative outlet, growing quickly because of word-of-mouth and support from the local community.
“When you buy local, you’re buying it from somebody that you might know that you might run into on the street, and you’re giving them money to help pay for school or help send their kids to soccer camp and that sort of thing,” Watts said.
The Christmas market also features local dancers, Christmas carolers and even a bar.
Craft Culture continues on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Prospera Place.
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