Find that perfect Christmas gift, that thoughtful keepsake, or just a little something for yourself as Make It!, Vancouver’s best and biggest handmade exhibition.
Started eight years ago by Vancouver-based brother-sister team Chandler and Jenna Herbut, Make It! brings hundreds of local painters, jewelers, sculptors, and crafters together for four days of handmade heaven. What started as a small, community fair at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre has since expanded to a huge annual gathering – including a show in Edmonton – attracting tens of thousands of shoppers every year.
“We get a lot of people who are up-and-coming, you know they might not have been doing it for very long, so we create this awesome incubator and this platform them to launch their businesses,” Jenna Herbut told Vancity Buzz.
“We attract makers from all over the country now, so we have people from Quebec, a lot from Ontario – and it’s been really great to see them approach us and apply… compared to some of other craft shows, we get some of the vendors that no one has been before in Vancouver.”
For Herbut, the appeal of buying goods directly from those that make them is the connection you’re getting to someone’s life and passion.
“That story behind how it’s made, people feel really connected to the person’s process when they actually hear the intentions of why something was created, as opposed to just seeing it in a store,” she says. “[It’s great] talking to exhibitors, hearing what their process was, and what really inspired them to start making in the first place. Also you’re buying quality goods, that’s handmade, made with love, so that’s always a much more fun experience.”
Whether you’re coming for the high quality handcrafted goods made right here in Vancouver, or just want to come down and enjoy some food and drinks, and take in the sights, there will be something here for everyone.
Tickets are available at the door for $7. Get $1 off admission by showing this flyer.
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Make It! The Handmade Revolution
When: Thursday, December 3 to Sunday, December 6
Time: Thursday and Friday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: PNE Forum – 2901 East Hastings Street, Vancouver
Price: $7, kids under 12 get in free
Vancity Buzz is a proud media sponsor of Make It! Vancouver