RUNNING BEHIND?
Last Chance Holiday Market offers local arts, crafts, food and entertainment
Procrastinating holiday shoppers can find unique gifts created by local artisans during the Last Chance Holiday Market.
The market on Sunday, Dec. 22, will feature arts and crafts handmade by New Mexicans. There also will be local growers selling their fresh produce and other edibles.
“We are kind of the Last Chance Holiday Market,” organizer Alex Paramo said. “The last chance to get unique gifts. Shop for your friends and family from your friends and neighbors.”
There will be about 40 vendors, including Bar X Brand Jerky, which has been in operation in the South Valley for more than 40 years and II Gemini Crafts, a Native American mother-daughter team that creates unique jewelry with a message, according to Paramo. Mike Pace Art also will be at the event, as well as artists Stephanie Cordova and Patrick Cloudface Burnham, who will be doing live art and auctioning it off.
“Mike Pace takes pictures of iconic New Mexican scenery; for example, Zozobra,” Paramo said. “He’ll take the pictures and then copy them using his hand, using ink dots. So supercool. He’s super-talented. It runs the gamut in terms of that kind of thing.”
What sets this holiday market apart from the others is the music. There will be entertainment throughout out the day by several popular musicians including platinumselling recording artist Kirk Matthews; Los Sencillos, made up of a couple members from local reggae outfit Reviva; and the veteran band Weather.
The entertainment lineup also includes a performance by the Jefferson Middle School Chamber Orchestra.
“Jefferson Middle School is known as the jewel of the APS system in terms of music,” Paramo said. “It has four or five separate ensembles. They have rock band. They have choir. They have orchestra, and this is a chamber orchestra, which is the cream of the crop.”
Attendees are encouraged to bring books appropriate for schoolchildren ranging from kindergarten age to teens. Books will be donated to Albuquerque Public Schools.
This year’s event has a new location. It will be held at Fusion Theatre’s campus, which includes a building next to the theater and an outdoor space between the two structures. The area also hosts the Downtown Growers Winter Market.
“It’s recognized by Growers Market folks already, and it’s a bigger campus, bigger footprint and it allows us to expand, so we’re excited to be there,” Paramo said.