Art Makes a Great Gift First Friday
Globeville Riverfront Art Center (GRACe), 888 East 50th Avenue
Friday, December 1, 6 to 9 p.m.
For the First Friday in December, some of the eighty-plus artists of GRACe, a year-round hive of working creative industries, will invite the public into their studios to buy affordable small artworks and handmade gifts direct from the makers. If you haven’t been before, GRACe will open your eyes to the sheer variety of studios and small businesses staying alive under the radar. Here’s your chance to find something to take home or wrap up for a friend or loved one: Choose from jewelry, fiber art, skin-care products, photography, gift baskets and eclectica, then take a break to pose in a holiday photo booth.
Gift of Getting Show
Indyink Gallery, 742 Santa Fe Drive
Friday, December 1, 7 to 11 p.m.
Indyink is not only bringing back its popular Gift of Getting show, an annual holiday roundup of works for less than $100 from a who’s-who of Denver urban, street and print artists. But the screen-printing shop and gallery will also introduce its soon-to-be new permanent space on Santa Fe Drive. Get a sneak peek and attend opening night for the cash-and-carry free-for-all at the new spot; after that, whatever’s left over will migrate over to Indyink’s Abstract storefront at 84 South Broadway until Christmas. Indyink owner Dave Roggeman says the Santa Fe location will officially debut this spring.
Stuff Your Stocking First Friday Micro Market
Ink Lounge, 29 South Fox Street
Friday, December 1, 5 to 8 p.m.
Ink Lounge’s Stu and Nikki Alden like to keep it small, but potent, for their First Friday Micro Markets, by bringing together a select group of local makers to each party. At the holiday edition, the focus is on stocking-sized gifts, such as gorgeous jewelry by Crow Jane, bars of Cultura Chocolate, Red Camper jams, pet goodies from Bare Bones Barktique and hand-worked wooden spoons by Tim’s Woodworking. Wash it all down with a free hot whiskey drink mixed by Bear Creek Distillery, and go home later to wrap up your market finds prettily in wrapping paper you printed yourself at Ink Lounge (drinks are first-come, first-served, and the printing workshop is from 6 to 7 p.m.; your generous tips for both will be donated to Urban Peak, the event’s beneficiary). Visit Ink Lounge online for a complete Micro Market rundown and more info on how you can help Urban Peak.
Hitch a horse-and-carriage ride with Box Elder on Old South Pearl Street.
WinterFest on South Pearl Street
South Pearl Street, between Buchtel Boulevard and Evans Avenue
Friday, December 1, 5 to 9 p.m.
Saturday, December 2, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Like your shopping old-school, complete with an Old World Santa, hot chocolate, cider, caroling, fresh pine garlands, and horse and wagon rides? Old South Pearl Street has got you covered with its double-barreled WinterFest celebration, which begins on Friday with a frosty evening of nighttime cheer and gives way to a street shindig on Saturday with a full open aire market and live music by Richie Castro and the Decaf Muchachos and a retro Andrews Sisters tribute group, the Denver Dolls Cabaret. Gift and food vendors will add purpose to your festing; find the perfect tree at the Pope Farms Produce & Garden Center outdoor tree lot.
Holiday Flea
Former Gart Sports Castle, 1000 Broadway
Friday, December 1, 6 to 9 p.m.
Saturday, December 2, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m
Sunday, December 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Opening Night Party: $35 (includes five drinks)
Weekend Shopping: $5 for both days
An all-purpose market for the young and hipsterish, the Denver Flea is huge, modern and fun, whatever the season, and only more so when the holidays roll around. The Holiday Flea kicks off on Friday with an exclusive first-pick shopping party with eats, drinks and music, then settles into a more public groove of vendor-browsing and flowing taps for the rest of the weekend. Immerse yourself! Tickets available in advance at Eventbrite.
Sweet William Holiday Market
The Cube Stapleton, 8371 Northfield Boulevard
Saturday, December 2, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, December 3, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Westword’s Best of Denver Best Flea Market pick for 2017, the Sweet William Market is, at its heart, the real deal: a classic flea that grew up with the times while remaining small and folksy. This year’s cozy holiday version presents a select 25 artisan vendors, along with live-painting demonstrations by pet portraitist Rachelle of Nose Prints. Think small.
Witch Collective Solstice Market
Mercury Cafe Denver, 2199 California Street
Saturday, December 2, 5:30 to 9 p.m.
Sunday, December 3, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The all-Colorado Witch Collective’s ol’ black magic, growing by leaps and bounds, takes over the upstairs ballroom at the Mercury Cafe for the weekend, with a few dozen maker/vendors and a Saturday-night Winter Solstice After-Party Concert with Rare Byrds, the Maybe Sos and Pearls & Perils. Shopping is free; party admission is $10 at the door, though no one will be turned away for lack of funds. You’ll also have the opportunity to give back: Witch Collective vendors will earmark 10 percent of all market sales for the youth-services nonprofit Colorado Circles for Change.
Have a clean Christmas with Lisa Gillespie's decorative soaps.
Lisa Gillespie Handmade Natural Soaps
Three Leaf Farm, 445 South 112th Street, Lafayette
Saturday, December 2, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Three Leaf Farm, a working farm and organic-produce grower offering medicinal-herb workshops and spring and summer outdoor farm dinners in the Lafayette countryside, gathers a few favorite regional artisans into the cow shed once a year for a holiday market, with a host of friendly barnyard animals thrown in for good measure. Shop down on the farm for jewelry, soaps, needle-felted creatures, adorable pocket monsters, hand-sewn gratitude flags and other whimsies.
St. Dominic Church Holiday Mercado and Arts & Crafts Fair
St. Dominic Church, 2905 Federal Boulevard
Saturday, December 2, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, December 3, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Have a happy multicultural Christmas with the Dominican Sisters in north Denver, who will offer fair-trade goodies, nun-approved jams and craft items for sale in the church basement, with homemade tamales on the table for your dining pleasure. St. Nick will drop by for group blessings from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon, so don’t forget to bring the kids. Admission is free.
A sampling of artwork you'll find at Ananda Tattoo.
Ananda Art and Tattoo
Ananda Art and Tattoo, 7180 West 38th Avenue, Wheat Ridge
Saturday, December 2, 4 to 9 p.m.
Even tattoo enthusiasts celebrate the holidays, so the artists of Ananda Art and Tattoo in Wheat Ridge are opening an exhibit showcasing fine artwork they’ve made when they’re not inking someone’s arm. Browse affordable art and jewelry and enjoy treats, hot cocoa and tats for all (the real kind for you, and the temporary sort for kids), then gather ’round for a tree-lighting ceremony in front of Stevens Elementary School, 7101 West 38th Avenue, at 6:30 p.m., in conjunction with the district-wide Ridge on 38 Holiday Celebration.
Pick up a Hinman's bûche de Noël at the BCFM Winter Market.
Hinman's Bakery
Boulder County Fairgrounds: Indoor Arena
Saturday, December 2, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sunday, December 3, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Longmont Farmers’ Market wakes up for winter, mixing seasonal bounty and local artisans’ wares for an indoor market at the Boulder County Fairgrounds. More than 100 vendors will be hawking food and gift items, and there’ll be plenty to nosh on for breakfast, including fresh-baked goods and hot coffee. If you’ve been jonesing for a good farmers’ market since summer was over, here’s your holiday-season fix.
Support Nederland's creative community at the Holiday Mountain Market.
Nederland Holiday Mountain Market
Nederland Community Center, 750 Highway 72, Nederland
Saturday, December 2, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, December 3, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Nederland, that hippie paradise and offbeat mountain town high in the hills west of Boulder, has its own groove, and that goes for the high-altitude burg’s holiday market. Spotlighting local artisans, live music and dance, good eats, a silent auction and visits by Santa from noon to 3 p.m. daily, the Holiday Mountain Market is about as far away from a mall as you can hope to get during another frenetic holiday season.
57th Annual Georgetown Christmas Market
Sixth Street, Georgetown
Saturday and Sunday, December 2 and 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, December 9 and 10, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Georgetown’s been sharing its Victorian mining-town charm during the holiday season for more than fifty years, inviting weary city folk to its quaint streets for roasted chestnuts, gift shopping and horse-drawn-wagon rides that just can’t be re-created in an urban setting. Daily Santa Lucia processions and visits by the most traditional of all St. Nicks seal the deal. Shop and eat in Georgetown’s boutiques and restaurants or at vendor booths in an outdoor European marketplace. And if you have the time, take advantage of Christmas Market Museum Tours at the Hamill House Museum, Hotel de Paris Museum and Energy Museum.
See Westword's event listings for more holiday events.
