Holiday Makers Market. A wrap (with a Dickens twist)!
As Baltimore’s inner harbor awaits an exciting new future, it borrowed a page from Christmas Past, transforming into a bustling hot-spot for the perfect Christmas Present! (Ok, NOT just Christmas presents, but let’s stick with the Dickens pun for the moment ).
The Waterfront Partnership Greeting Booth, and oyster cage holiday tree, complete with Mr. Trash Wheel atop! Kids colored oyster shell cutouts and “built an oyster reef”, attendees learned about WPB and left with shopping bags, mugs and a better understanding of what goes on at the Waterfront.
Waterfront Partnership’s Holiday Makers Market filled the Light Street Pavilion at Harbor Place from end to end—and then some. Nestled between the Inner Harbor Ice Rink and the German Christmas Village (with the lighted boat parade streaming by), the market was loaded with merchant-made gifts, vintage wear, art, toys and this year, even guitars were sold with a smile. Restaurant pop-ups offered cozy comfort-foods, seasonal cocktails and even vegan sweets! Choirs sang, children colored, chainsaws carved, live music drifted over crowds and fantastical lantern creatures glowed amidst the holiday landscape. It didn’t stop there though. We thought we’d add in some stilt walkers, drag bingo and a full-on art exhibition by dozens of Black Artists.
Stilt Walkers, Musicians, Chain-Saw artists, DJ’s and Street Performers drew in the crowds during the two-day event, a part of “Baltimore’s Most Festive Weekend”.
Holiday Makers Market is really Baltimore x Baltimore, winter edition. It’s a large-scale lift with a million moving parts bringing together local makers, artists, entertainers and cuisine—over 60 vendors in all.
Oh, but the market itself…
It’s Baltimore history, Baltimore culture and Baltimore grass roots all rolled up into one, and that’s a formula for a really good time. Maybe it’s the diversity of the crowds or the act of buying a hand-made product directly from its maker. Maybe it’s the dedication of vintage-hunters, giving old style a new/upcycled life. It might be the wide selection of unique goods with quirky, Baltimore flavor but the Holiday Makers Market is an event that is down-to-earth, personal, and connected. Let’s put it this way-there’s a world of difference between “shopping” and going to the market!
Atrium shot of Holiday Maker’s Market, featuring a giant Creative Alliance(CA) lantern parade moth! CA lanterns brought a whimsical aspect to the already festive setting, helping to create a space where the fantasy and magic of the holidays could take off!
More than once,
market-goers delightedly commented on the buzz-filled building, hearkening back to ghosts of Christmases Past during Harbor Place’s heyday. And while Makers Market might have offered glimpses into holidays gone by, what it really foretells is the anticipation of holidays yet to come as the waterfront landscape shifts, changes and grows.
Events like Makers Market are an important part of that change- lifting up small businesses, artists and entrepreneurs, creating new bonds and connections between people and neighborhoods and keeping dollars circulating in the local economy. These kind of events are like the waves that lift all boats. Ok, yeah, we had to sneak some water into the waterfront, but when those lift all the boats, the result is kinda like the Dickens tale- Everyone gets blessed!
