In the same way that farmers’ markets are rising in popularity because of the public’s interest in supporting local farmers, so are arts and crafts fairs that showcase the wares of area artists. I’d been meaning to stop at the quarterly Royal Bison Craft & Art Fair for some time, and finally had the opportunity to do so on Saturday.

Royal Bison Craft & Art Fair

We paid our $2 admission at the door of the Old Strathcona Performing Arts Venue (when did they change the name from Cosmopolitan Music Society?), and entered a small room to the left where a handful of tables were set up. We were expecting a lot more vendors, but thankfully, we found out there was a second larger room on the other side.

Room #2

As a whole, the fair was a lot smaller than the Holiday Stop and Shop I visited in November, but had representation from very similar vendors selling clothing, records, jewellery, cards, and decor items. I was tempted by a few items, including a tongue-in-cheek game called “Leaving Edmonton” by Adam Waldron-Blain, where the objective is to collect enough cards to allow the player to leave the city, and delicate purses made from the covers rescued from old hardcover books. We also found out about a new locally-published magazine called Display, which will feature only-Canadian content (when we asked the person about Display, she asked, “Are you creatives?” I’ve never heard that before). Flipping through the first issue, there was a story about Edmonton jewellery designers Twee, among others.

We ended up picking up a Jam Story poster (too cute) and a set of Gabe Wong’s Blockheads – “Humanoid Paper Toys”, as it is written on the package. I know I do have to show restraint at these fairs, and typically only buy one or two things, or gifts to give away. If you haven’t been to one of these craft fairs, I would encourage you to keep an eye out for the next one – a world of unique gifts await.

Netty likes Jam