Fri 12/5-Sun 12/7
Although some have already trickled out, it’s this weekend that holiday maker markets become a deluge. And whether you shop them obsessively or you’ve never dipped your toe in this pool, there’s never been a time when it’s more critical to “shop local.”
There are efforts right now urging people to stop shopping or to boycott big corporate chains to register a protest against tariffs and inflation. But there are even better reasons to shop at these markets where you’ll usually be buying gifts from the person that made them.
One is that interaction — getting to know, face-to-face, who the local creators are. Another is that you are buying something unique, not an item that can be found in every Walmart across the country. And finally, the money you spend at a local market doesn’t go back to some distant corporate headquarters—it circulates in the immediate community where the vendor lives and shops, and helps to boost the local economy.
One of the longest-running markets is the Artists at the Twist Holiday Market, now in its 37th year. If you’re scratching your head, going “but there’s only been an artist colony at the Twist Drill Building on Lakeside for about four or five years,” you need to know that this is an extension of the former Artcraft Building Artists Holiday event. A group of artists moved en masse from the Artcraft Building, now repurposed as Cleveland Police Headquarters, to this new spot. They continued the holiday sale, which adds many outside artists to the resident core for more than 50 artists, both familiar ones and newbies. And it takes place in Twist’s expansive event space, making it easier to browse. The show runs two days: Sat 12/6 @ 10am-6pm & Sun 12/7 @ 11am-5pm.
Not quite as long-running, but still well-established are Cleveland Bazaar’s 20-year-old events. Their biggest holiday event, and one of the biggest in the area, is their two-day monster at 78th Street Studios December 13-14 with more than 150 vendors. But if that’s too mind-boggling for you, they offer a smaller lead-in market at Lake Affect Studios in the Superior Arts District on Sat 12/6 @ 10am-6pm. It hosts about 75 vendors in the roomy second floor event space, which also includes a bar in case you need a break. With two decades of experiences and contacts, these are some of the best-curated shows around. In addition, many of the building’s resident artists open their doors.
Over at the LGBT Center of Cleveland in Gordon Square, they’ll again be hosting Queer the Halls on December 6 @ 10am-4pm. This event offers space to LGBTQ+ and allied vendors, with much of the merch having a distinctly LGBTQ+ slant and much of it just local, handmade and creative. The event has been growing and has sprawled out into Near West Theatre’s space across the street, also an LGBTQ+-friendly organization. In addition to shopping, you’ll have the opportunity to talk to representatives from groups that provide services to the community.
The Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood currently has a show going on called Art Treasures 2025 which features local artist-made items such as photos, paintings, jewelry, cards and stickers. On Friday 12/5 @ 6-7:30pm it will host a reception/pop-up market where you can shop these local artists and meet them. The show is on view through December 27, and you can stop by to purchase items any time at Beck’s customer service desk. But the reception is a great time to chat with the artists about their creative practice.
At the Little Red Schoolhouse at 323 East Bagley Road in Berea, the Berea Fine Arts Club will be holding “Home for the Holidays,” its annual holiday gift shop on Friday 12/5 @ 5-9pm, Saturday 12/6 @ 10pm-5pm and Sun 12/7 @ 10am-4pm. The work of a couple of dozen area artists will be on display boutique-style.
If you’d like to get out of town a bit and enjoy some country air, take a drive out to Mulberry Creek Herb Farm in Huron for its Christkindlmarkt on Saturday 12/6 @ 10am-5pm and Sunday 12/7 @ noon-4pm. You’re find artisan-made gifts and décor, and a lot of food and wine vendors selling everything from popcorn to bundt cakes to pastas, and wines from Mulberry Creek’s own new wine-tasting room which just opened last year. And yes, they will have plants, even at this time of years — maybe no kitchen herbs but they always have an interesting selection of things such as succulents. Local high school singers will perform at 2:30 on Saturday, and Santa will make an appear from 1-3pm Sunday, and German-style food will be available to eat in the seating area of the retail greenhouse.
One of the area’s oldest farmers markets, the North Union Farmers Markets, which run all year in Shaker Heights and Crocker Park, will be holding its Holiday Markets on Saturday 12/6 and 12/20 @ 10am-4pm at the Market Hall at the Van Aken District in Shaker Heights. They’ll be hosting more than 35 bakers, makers and artists with everything from baked goods and local honey to jewelry and pottery.
In Highland Heights, StoneWater (One Club Drive) is holding its ninth annual Shop and Sip event on Saturday 12/6 @ 10am-4pm . It features almost three dozen vendors and holiday music with food and a full bar available. The Rustic Grill will be open for dining during and after the market. There is also a Toys for Tots toy drive — bring a new unwrapped toy for a child of any age.
Over at the Yards Project, the gallery on the ground floor of the Worthington Yards apartments in the Warehouse District, there’ll be an artist market and open house going on Saturday 12/6 @ noon-4pm at Worthington Yards Project. It’s a great opportunity to check out the space which regularly hosts group shows by some of the area’s best-known artists as well as up-and-comers. This sale offers work by established local artists such as Lori Kella, Liz Maugans, Dana Depew, Claudio Orso, Michael Loderstedt, Anna Tararova and more, with budget-friendly prints, photos, ceramics, jewelry and wearable accessories, zines and books, and even honey!
There’s a wondrous new space in Slavic Village called the Darl Center for the Arts, conceived and brought to life in the last three years by former event planner/art collector/bon vivant Darl Schaaff in an abandoned old Carnegie Library. If you haven’t been there year, be prepared for your jaw to drop when you walk into the art- and artifact-stuffed space. And you can do so when it hosts a Vintage Holiday Estate Market on Friday 12/5 @ 4-7pm, Saturday 12/6 @ 11am-4pm and Sunday 12/7 @ 11am-4pm. Check out the giant Christmas tree and the art. Expect to find …. just about anything. That’s Darl!
