The craft fair with a club vibe: Make It Vancouver is Back, April 22

Image from Marie’s Guilt Free Bakery, one of the exhibitors at Make It.

A craft fair in April?

Yup. And not just any craft fair – the indisputably hippest, greenest, most artisanal, funkiest craft fair ever to hit Metro Vancouver.

Make It Vancouver returns for its spring instalment, April 22-April 24, at the PNE Forum. By now a local fixture, Make It is one part craft fair and one part party, with an eco-friendly, proudly Canadian vibe that permeates everything. It may be the one place in Vancouver where you can browse for handmade stationary, one-off baby clothes and organic skin care products while scarfing down street food, sipping on craft beer and grooving along to a club mix. 

Image from Make It Productions

This year, Make It features nearly 200 of Canada’s top makers, designers and crafters, all under one giant roof inside the PNE Forum in East Vancouver. Products on offer are all over the map, united only in that they’re handcrafted ethically and with love by local artisans. Savvy shoppers can find: original art, funky accessories and handbags, baby and kids’ stuff, body care products, candles, ceramics and pottery, edgy fashions, plenty of foodstuffs (from macarons to cheeses and fudge), home decor, bespoke jewelry, leather goods, metalwork, oodles of stationary and plenty of unique t-shirts and silk-screened items.

Photo credit: Make It Productions | Flickr

While you’re shopping ’til you drop, you can also enjoy the licensed bar and chow down on street eats from some of Vancouver’s top food trucks. Funky music adds to the upbeat, fun vibe that’s nothing like the classic, buttoned-down craft fair atmosphere … and, of course, worlds away from the slick, corporate mall aesthetic. In fact, Make It’s brother-sister founders started the whole operation as a way to persuade their hip friends – who wouldn’t be caught dead in a holiday craft fair – to check out the incredible offerings from Vancouver’s artisan community.

Make It Vancouver runs Friday, April 22, to Sunday, April 24, at the PNE Forum on 2901 E. Hastings St. Tickets are $5 at the door and get you admission for all three days. $1-off coupons are available online and you can also reserve early-bird tickets for $4.