Twenty Great Holiday Markets This Weekend In Colorado

It's a banner weekend for holiday shoppers, and a last-chance opportunity for Chanukah gift-seeking. Luckily, you can get that done in a snap at all of these awesome shop-local destinations.

Horseshoe Holiday Pop-Up and Retail Shop
Belmar, 464 South Teller Street, Lakewood
Through December 23
Weekend Markets: Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Retail Shop: Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Horseshoe Market’s double-duty holiday takeover at Belmar makes shopping small convenient all season long, offering immediate proximity to the shopping center’s ice-skating rink and movie theater, and in the meantime placing an array of one-of-a-kind handmades at your fingertips, too. Parking is plentiful at Belmar, where the Horseshoe sets up indoors for a traditional pop-up “lucky finds” flea and craft market with booths on Saturdays and Sundays, while also maintaining a retail outlet showcasing local artisans and makers on Fridays through Sundays. Quality is number one at this longstanding market, as is the spirit of economic community, a commodity we’ve all but lost in the holiday-shopping rat-race. You won’t be disappointed.

Arvada Center Fine Art Market and Aces Ceramics Sale
Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, 6901 Wadsworth Boulevard, Arvada
Through December 16
Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sundays and Mondays, 1 to 5 p.m.
Tuesdays through Thursdays, noon to 7:30 p.m.
The Arvada Center has had more than thirty years to perfect its annual Fine Art Market Show & Sale, which is sailing into its 32nd year of decking the halls with quality art and fine craft for holiday shoppers. More than ninety Colorado artists pitched in gift-ready work for the ongoing event, which is open daily through December 16. And as usual, there’s more: The center’s annual Aces Ceramics Sale, showcasing its ceramics-studio instructors and students, runs concurrently with affordable works by fifty more artists of all skill levels. Sounds like one-stop shopping to us.

Holiday Fine Arts Festival
Art Gym Denver, 1460 Leyden Street
Open Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., through December 21
Closing Party: Thursday, December 20, 5 to 8 p.m.
A studio- and tool-sharing facility like the Art Gym comes equipped with a readymade army of working artists, and even better, some nice gallery spaces ready to fill with art goodies from metalsmiths, printmakers, painters and mixed-media works, not to mention the culinary makers in Art Gym’s commissary kitchen. And don’t wait for the closing party if you have shopping to do ASAP (Jewish readers, take note!): Drop in on weekdays, too, through December 21.
Holiday Art Markets
Pasternack’s Art Hub, 6851 West Colfax Avenue, Lakewood
November 23 through December 24
Fridays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Mondays through Thursdays, and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m
Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Pasternack’s, located in the heart of Lakewood’s 40 West Arts District, is home to a conglomeration of arts concerns and individual studio spaces, including the Next Gallery co-op and the Colfax Museum. The freeform space is going all out for the season with themed weekend markets showcasing resident artists in five shopping zones named for classic Christmas-movie icons (the first is the George Bailey room, and so on…), as well as special Friday events (this week, it’s a Chanukah party, which coincides with the 40 West First Friday Art Walk).
Bonus: Art markets are scheduled conveniently through Christmas Eve. See the details online.

Wonders Holiday Show and Sale
DAVA (Downtown Aurora Visual Arts), 1405 Florence Street, Aurora
Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by appointment, through January 16
DAVA’s holiday show is a beautiful thing to behold, born in community between the nonprift organization’s professional artist mentors and youth students of all ages. Guest artists Virginia Diaz Saiki, Adrienne DeLoe and Griffin Callahan contribute, respectively, prints and jewelry, art blending imagery and materials from nature, and wheel-thown pottery; student work varies widely from functional clay works to gel monoprints. And it’s not going anywhere soon: The show is up and open most weekdays through mid-January, in case you need a last-minute birthday gift in early 2019. Proceeds from the sale benefit year-round DAVA enrichment and job-training programs for kids.
Improper City Holiday Makers Pop-up
Improper City, 3201 Walnut Street
Friday, December 7, 4 to 9 p.m.
Breweries, beer gardens and maker pop-ups have become a thing — an idea not lost on the folks who run the food-truck-and-brews valhalla Improper City. Arrive ready to eat, drink and be a merry shopper among a curated group of local makers vending jewelry, laser-engraved drinkware, ladies’ apparel, porcelain (and more) to a fully satisfied crowd.

RiNo Holiday Bazaar
Booz Hall, 2845 Walnut Street
Friday, December 7, 5 to 10 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, December 8 and 9, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Free to $40, tickets and details online
There are plenty of options available for the Denver Bazaar’s RiNo holiday edition, with free entry for the first two hours on each day ($5 thereafter) just to shop, and a variety of VIP options that seem to include more and more free drinks as the price goes up. Whatever you choose, the bazaar is big, contemporary and geared to young professionals, with snappy, gifty goods from more than 100 hip vendors.

Global Gift Bazaar
Modern Nomad, 2936 Larimer Street
Friday/Saturday, December 7 and 8, 11 a.m. to  7 p.m.; Sunday, Deecember 9, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Free, RSVP at eventbrite.com
Do good and find something special that’s been handmade with love by members of the Denver metro immigrant population at the Global Gift Bazaar, a pop-up collaboration between the nonprofit R Bazaar, which offers entrepreneurial training to refugees and immigrants, and the RiNo modern-design mall Modern Nomad. Immerse yourself in global cultures through unique artisan goods, food and music — and don’t miss a fortuitous run-in with the R Bazaar Henna Squad while you’re there!

Holiday Fine Art Bazaar
Prism Workspaces, 999 Vallejo Street
Friday, December 7, 5:30 to 9 p.m.
Saturday, December 8, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The artists and entrepreneurs of the Prism Workplace community will come out of their studios and offices to meet the public for the Holiday Fine Art Bazaar of kaleidoscopic proportions: Fine art, sculpture, clothing, jewelry and accessories, stationary, glasswork — you name it, it might just be there to buy, from 25-plus vendors.
Rosehouse Holiday Market
Rosehouse, 14 South Broadway
Saturday, December 8, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Looking for eclectic finds in an LGBTQ-friendly environment? That’s par for the course at the south Broadway herbery, plant store and gallery of beautiful things Rosehouse. But a few additional vendors make the shop’s holiday market just that much more magical, with “Fuck the patriarchy” stickers and Sculpy eye barrettes by Katy Zimmerman, fiber artist Christine French’s sweet embroideries and felted Totoro figures, walk-in poke tattoos by Faatma, artwork by Olivia Blu and chair massages, gift certificates and herbal remedies from the ladies of Agua y Sangre Healing.

Yes Please Makers Market
Yes Please, 3851 Steele Street
Saturday, December 8, and Sunday, December 9, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Yes Please showroom is home to entrepreneurial craft businesses Craft Boner, known for its sassy/smutty greeting cards and other printed products, from glassware to framed art prints; and the Moore Collection, which screenprints Colorado-centric T-shirts, hats and other goods. But for the holidays, they open up the shop in front to an array of 100 fellow local makers ready to vend specialty foods, handmades, artworks and prints, hemp products, paper goods, assemblages, knitted items and a long list of exemplary other stuff that will knock your socks off (it’s okay; you might find a new pair to buy while you’re there).

Cabalidays! Art Market
Cabal Gallery, 1875 South Broadway
December 8 through 31
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 8, 6 to 10 p.m.
Cabalidays is a holiday tradition for the Cabal Gallery conspirators, but this year, when they invite their friends to join them in setting up shop in the Cabal lair, the goods will remain on view through the end of December for less hurried shopping. Those goods might vary from something as small as a Mar Williams cartoon cat sticker to a framed haiku collage by Corrina Espinosa, plus all the right stuff for offbeat gift-giving among offbeat friends. Opening night is always a weird but family-friendly party that famously offers photo ops with Krampus, along with coffee, cocoa, holiday treats and activities for kids.

Jackalope Indie Artisan Fair
McNichols Building, 144 West Colfax Avenue
Saturday and Sunday, December 8 and 9, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
The traveling Jackalope is back at the cozy McNichols Building for the holidays, with a squad of 150 artisans and makers selling everything under the sun, plus the other things it does best: make-and-take workshops (for instance, block-printed gift tags and wrapping paper, in one super-convenient offering), and a grab-bag scavenger hunt for the first 25 early-bird registrants each morning. Admission is thankfully free, but if you’re in the giving mood, donations will be accepted for Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies.

Holiday Pop-Up Shops
Hooked on Colfax, 3213 East Colfax Avenue
Saturdays and Sundays, December 8 through 23, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily
Everyone’s favorite laid-back East Colfax hangout is hosting a different hand-picked artist each day on weekend mornings through Christmas; this weekend’s features include ceramic artist Chris Nguyen’s raku mugs and skull vases on Saturday and handcrafted jewelry by Maggie MacCready of Magnolia Designs on Sunday. Future December pop-ups promise everything from typed poems on demand to fun limited-run enamel pins and organic dog-treat mustaches. Grab a gift and a coffee while the day is young!

Holiday Tiendita
Hijos del Sol, 2715 West Eighth Avenue
Saturdays, December 8 and 15, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily
Hijos del Sol, the gallery and retail arm of the Latino Cultural Arts Center, supports folk artisans, both local and from across the many borders of Latin America, throughout the year, but they’ll bring out their best fair-trade finds from México, Guatemala, Ecuador, Perú and Colombia for holiday shopping this Saturday and next. Shop here and you’ll give and give again. Good work!

Santos Market 2018
O’Sullivan Art Gallery, Regis University, 3333 Regis Boulevard
Saturday, December 8, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Regis University’s extensive santo collection, a priceless trove of nearly 1,000 hand-carved devotional retablos and bultos indigenous to the centuries-old communities of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, lends credence and respect to one of the oldest traditions in regional history. Accordingly, Regis’s O’Sullivan Gallery periodically keeps up with the genre in contemporary times, by showcasing living, working santeros carving works both traditional and updated in style. The Santos Market not only shows off these beautifully carved and painted works that are indigenous to the region, but also gives you a chance to own one yourself — or buy one for someone special.

Louisville Winter Market
Bittersweet Cafe & Confections, 834 Main Street
Saturdays, December 8,15 and 22, and Sunday, December 23, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily
The same folks who bring you the Louisville Farmers’ Market host the winter version, which throws in all the right holidays trimmings: gifts, food items, photos with Santa and fresh Christmas trees, all in a homey atmosphere on Main Street in old Louisville. If you’re bringing the family and hoping to make a day of it, make time for browsing around the charming downtown area and a skate around the WinterSkate rink, Steinbaugh Pavilion, 824 Front Street in Historic Downtown Louisville.

Georgetown Historic Christmas Market
Strousse Park, Georgetown
Saturday and Sunday, December 8 and 9, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
Georgetown’s Christmas Market is as old as the rugged hills where it nestles and hasn’t lost an ounce of the old-fashioned charm that kept it going year after year. Wrapped around an outdoor, European-style market in Strousse Park, the celebration spills out into Georgetown streets, bringing along carolers, roasted chestnuts, a traditional St. Nicholas and an attendant Santa Lucia procession in tow.

Minturn Winter Holiday Market
Minturn Market, 100 Williams Street, Minturn
Saturday, December 8, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Having a ski weekend, but still need to get some holiday shopping under your belt? The frosty Minturn market is in close proximity to Vail, Beaver Creek and Copper and a true mountain experience, complete with s’mores, Santa and shopping galore.

First Annual Holiday Market
Mountain Toad Brewing, 900 Washington Avenue, Golden
Sunday, December 9, noon to 5 p.m.
Handcrafted gifts and brews go hand-in-hand at Mountain Toad, where a handful of local Golden makers will offer a homespun spread of candles, soaps, small-batch food items, pottery, wood objects and succulents. Crafty Chassis, a DIY crafts studio in a truck, will also make an appearance.

Holiday market lists will run weekly through Christmas. Do you have an event you want included? Send the details to [email protected].