Several local gift markets set for this weekend in Fayetteville

One of the best opportunities of the year to shop for local, handmade art and crafts is coming up this weekend.

That’s because four local holiday markets, including The Little Craft Show, Block Street Bizarre, Holiday Art Sale (formerly Block Street Art Sale), and the Community Creative Center Holiday Bazaar, are all set to take place over the next few days in the area.

The markets will kick off on Friday with another installment of The Holiday Art Sale at 7 p.m. at Life Styles Inc. at 5200 S Thompson St. just north of the Fayetteville city limits in Springdale. The sale, which began at the Good Folk House on Block Avenue 13 years ago, will include unique works of photography, paintings, pottery, and more from 12 local artists, including Don House, Sabine Schmidt, Marie Demeroukas, Karen Chotkowski, Debra DuBois, Susan Shore, Faye Alter, Vajra Engber, Greg Mitchell, Michelle Berg Vogel,Victoria McKinney and William Mayes Flanagan. The sale will continue through the weekend from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Saturday, and from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Update: The Holiday Art Sale has been cancelled.

The largest holiday market of the weekend is probably The Little Craft Show, set for Saturday, Dec. 7. The once a year event will include work by over 50 artists and crafters this year in the 13,000 square foot Fayetteville Town Center on the square. Items will include everything from hand-printed letter press art, knit goods, plush animals, pottery, jewelry, clothing, and more, and the event will be open from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. Organizers are saying that the show will go on regardless of what happens with the winter weather in the forecast this weekend.

Also on Saturday is the annual Block Street Bizarre event put on by the Block Street Business Association. In addition to open houses and special sales at each of the businesses along the street, a marshmallow toasting station, local pottery sale, hot chocolate bar, and other special events are planned. The event will go on all day from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., and organizers are saying it will also happen snow or shine.

The Northwest Arkansas Community Creative Center will host their annual Holiday Bazaar, featuring pottery, jewelry, artwork, cards, and other items from local artists, Saturday from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. inside Nadine Baum Studios.

Update The Community Creative Center Holiday Bazaar has been postponed until Dec. 14.

The Fayetteville Farmers’ Market’s holiday market at the Botanical Gardens, originally scheduled for this weekend, has been postponed until Saturday, Dec. 14 due to the prospect of winter weather in this weekend’s forecast.

Happy local arts and crafts shopping, everyone.