The Dawson pre-Christmas season launched on Nov. 10 as the gym in the Robert Service School filled up for the Dawson Daycare’s Bazaar. This was the lead event in a series that will take place until first weekend in December.
At least two others have now been announced, and sometimes another one creeps into the schedule, but there’s nothing at the post office so far.
The Little Blue Daycare’s bazaar is the oldest and largest of these “shop local” events, but the organizers may want to rethink holding it on weekends when the presence of a fixed holiday date like Remembrance Day prompts people to head off to the city on a big pre-Christmas shopping spree.
If the designated holiday is on Friday or Monday, or triggers a Monday holiday by occurring on the weekend, it may reduce the number of people who turn up. That seemed to be the case this year and last, as I recall.
Not that there weren’t lots of people. The baked goods sold well. The Class of 2013 held a successful Cake-Walk. The display tables of clothing, jewelry, pottery, candles, toys, recycled goods, and catalogue items all seemed to attract lots of browsers and buyers.
And there were, as usual, lots of people greeting each other and stopping to chat, as well as lots of kiddies getting their pictures take with Santa Claus.
The next event will take place at the Odd Fellows Hall on Nov. 30 from noon to 3 p.m. It’s the Christmas Arts and Crafts Fair, put on by the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture. Some of the same vendors will be present, but it is a smaller venue and aims to have people selling things they have actually made themselves: paintings, cards, photographs, clothing, knitted and crocheted items, and art objects of various kinds.
There’s also some hawking of items related to KIAC’s various projects, and there’s usually some local musical entertainment working in the background.
It’s $25 to book a table; contact KIAC at 993-5005.
As we move further into November and early December there will be a cluster of Open House events.
The City of Dawson will decorate council chambers and invite the public in. The RCMP will hold a stew and chili feast at the detachment. The museum is planning an open house again this year. As I write, dates for these events have not been set, but they’re always well attended.
Lately, most years have also featured a 10,000 Villages Free Trade fair trade event, but so far I haven’t seen any advance notices for that.
Right now, the last scheduled event is the appropriately named Last Minute Bazaar, held at the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Community Hall. That one will be on Dec. 7 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the cost per table is $30. Contact 993-7166 or 7115 to register. This event is heavily weighted towards traditional First Nations crafts.
Any profit made by TH at this event will go towards financing the 2014 Moosehide Gathering next summer.
It will be competing with the Nutcracker’s Dawson performance, though, which is also scheduled for that day.
