Hundreds of people shuffled shoulder-to-shoulder around the halls at the annual craft fair held over the weekend at the University of Northern British Columbia.
With more than 200 booths, the fair was the busiest some dedicated customers had seen in years.
"Never has it been this busy, I've been here for three hours already and I'm still trying to find specific vendors," said Sarah van Viegen, who has been coming to the UNBC fair for the last five years.
"I like to buy locally. You get really unique Christmas gifts that you won't find anywhere else," she said. Van Viegen and her family had a hard time carrying all their purchases out the door.
"It was definitely a successful day," she said laughing.
The Artisans of the North craft fair is an annual fund raiser for UNBC athletics. All money raised from renting craft spaces and raffle tickets go to support athletes on the university athletic teams.
While customers always look out for their old favourite booths, they also get to experience new vendors.
One of the new vendors, Laura Hills with Magnetic Creations, said she was impressed with the entire event.
"I decided to come here because the event has such a good reputation. The attendance is really high, and the organization is very impressive," said Hills, who came from Quesnel to sell her original design jewelry.
Hills has been to several craft shows around Prince George, and said this event was one of the best she's been to in a while.
She said was surprised by the turnout for Saturday afternoon, and though Sunday was a bit slower, the event was very worth while.
"It's a great showing of local talent, with such a variety of crafts," said Hills.
"At points it got really hot in here, but other than that it's been awesome," she said, laughing.
