One of the biggest craft fairs in Prince George attracted people to the Civic Centre this weekend, with vendors coming from across Canada for the annual event.
Prince George residents browsed everything from hand made shea butter, to fresh fudge, to unique jewelry to wool bedding - and everything in between at the 34th annual Studio Fair.
"The official numbers aren't in yet, but we feel there is more foot traffic than previous years," said Wendy Young, the executive director of the Prince George and District Community Arts Council.
"The exhibitors are happy, and if they're happy, we're happy," she said.
This year featured 15 new vendors and many returning vendors, said Young. She added she greatly appreciated all the volunteers who came out this year, as well as the tremendous efforts of the two main organizers, Tracy McCall and Crystie Tarr.
Betty Froese owns Shilo Glass, and has been a vendor at the Studio Fair for about 14 years. She sells cheese plates made out of wine bottles that she heats up in a glass kiln. All the air gets sucked out of the bottles, and she sandblasts different designs onto the top.
"This isn't the biggest show I do, but I absolutely love it. The people are just so great, even the guy who came to welcome me was so pleasant," said Froese, who came from St. Albert, Alberta.
"I'm so amazing people still buy them," she said, laughing. "They come and tell me they already have one, but they want another!"
Any vendor would tell you that the organization of the show great, said Froese.
Vern Henderson, who is one of the owners of Goodies, Pickled Specialties and More, agreed.
"The organization for the event is flawless, everything has run very smoothly," he said.
"The public really support the event, and they come year after year to ensure the vendors come back."
Goodies is a family run business out of Abbotsford, selling a variety of preserves, including carrots, beats, asparagus and garlic.
They came up to Prince George for three events this year, and plan to continue that pattern next year. Henderson said because the Studio Fair is a juried fair, he can't guarantee he'll be back next year, but he hopes so.
"We like to keep a low carbon footprint - all our produce comes from around British Columbia. I could tell you exactly which farms supply us for our preserves," Henderson said. Goodies has been at the Studio Fair for the last three years, and he said the foot traffic increases from their perspective every year.
"It's all about what the customers want, so hopefully they want us back for next year."
