Annual Christmas Market returns at The Bay

Nov. 25 and 26, Third + Bird’s 9th annual Christmas Market will take place at The Bay’s Portage Avenue location.

The brainchild of Chandra Kremski and Charla Smeale, Third + Bird is Winnipeg’s largest urban market in downtown Winnipeg. Close to 8,000 shoppers from around Manitoba, as well as visitors from Ontario and parts of North Dakota, are expected to descend on this artisan event.

"The maker movement is capturing a huge portion of the retail market," Kremski says, "and doing it in a completely new way."

Kremski and Smeall say that Third + Bird offers more than just a shopping experience. Rather, it’s about creating many different symbiotic relationships between local entrepreneurs. The ripple effect of these interconnected partnerships is injecting new life into downtown retail spaces that might otherwise lack tenants.

Kremski and Smeall are committed to a new way of doing business. "We want to be different and kind of turn things upside down," Kremski says.

Are they disruptors? It’s more about being creative and thinking of new, sustainable ways to network and support local entrepreneurs than it is about being radical, Smeall says.

"We always say, meet your local makers and farmers," Kremski says. "Know who you are purchasing from and get to know their stories."

You will find 135 makers at this year’s market.

Nicole Ryan is the creative force behind Cree Ryan, an indigenous-owned business that specializes in lush greenery and macramé, a resurgent art form that involves tying knots in a geometrical pattern.

Macramé is back in a big way. If you packed up or gave away your seventies-style hanging macramé plant holders long ago, a new generation has rediscovered their usefulness in today’s living spaces, which are getting progressively smaller. After filling all of the available space on her bookshelves and tabletops with her vast collection of lush greenery, Ryan says there was nowhere to go but up.

She created her first macramé hanging plant holder a mere 18 months ago. "There are only so many different types of knots that you can make," says Ryan, "but by playing with different combinations, you can create really dynamic pieces."

Today, her creations made from natural fibres and materials are in huge demand.

With a keen eye for gorgeous greenery that includes exotic ferns, tropical plants, and succulents, Ryan says that every aspect of each piece she creates by hand is designed with a reconnection to nature in mind.

She will be debuting a new line of home decor elements at the upcoming Third + Bird market.

Looking for a wreath for your front door? Fache Floral Designs owned by Britney Lee Fache will also be at Third + Bird. A private studio wedding specialist, Fache will be featuring fresh wreaths and floral bouquets in this season’s most popular colours and coolest textures.

Fache combines fragrant greenery such as Douglas fir, cedar branches and silver fir with the bronzed foliage of magnolia leaves and ties it together with a modern asymmetrical flair. Expect to see gold and champagne tones. At Third + Bird’s spring market in May, Fache quickly sold out.

Matt Jenkins, the owner of Cloverdale Forge, is an artisan blacksmith who creates beautiful forged products using time-honoured tools and techniques. For the Third + Bird Christmas market, Jenkins will be featuring hand-forged garden trowels and tools together with handsome hooks and latches that are as decorative as they are functional. Made to last a lifetime, hand-forged items develop a natural patina over time, imparting even greater value and significance to their owner.

Authentic items are more likely to become permanent fixtures in our greenspaces. Imagine dressing your patio or deck with a piece designed with remarkable craftsmanship and reclaimed character. Jenkins has crafted a rustic modern table with a steel base that has artistic flourishes and a live edge natural slab table top that would look sensational in an outdoor or indoor garden room.

In addition to garden accessories, Jenkins also designs custom pieces such as hand-forged railings, gates, hardware for fashionable sliding barn doors and much more.

When you drop by Flora & Farmer’s display, sample the sweet and savoury flavours of award-winning homemade spreads that have earned accolades from the local food industry for owner and chef Kimberley Bialkoski. A winner in last year’s Great Manitoba Food Fight for her organic vegan applekraut made with fermented kraut, apples, garlic, ginger, green onion, and a touch of chillies, Bialkoski’s recipes are infused with the culinary traditions of her rich Ukrainian heritage but also hints of Asian flavours.

Descriptive names such as spicy Hot & Drunk horseradish dill pickles made with a shot of vodka or blueberry basil spread filled with wild blueberries and fresh basil evoke the delicious aromas and flavours from Flora & Farmer’s kitchen.

Many of Flora & Farmer’s ingredients are grown locally. For her ginger-flavoured szechuan sesame pickled bean spread, Bialkoski sourced maxibel organic beans from Hearts and Roots, a local CSA farm owned by Britt Embry and Justin Girard. A French filet bush bean variety that is stringless, maxibel has long, pencil-thin pods. Hot & Smoky pineapple and tomato is loaded with mountain merit and plum regal tomatoes grown by Natural Collective CSA. Mango rhubarb spread is sweetened with local honey from Beeproject Apiaries.

Bialkoski says that her best selling spread is savoury fig. Made with caramelized onions and roasted garlic, she says it is the perfect complement to a meat and cheese charcuterie board for holiday entertaining. Bialkoski plans to debut some new products at Third + Bird. She has teamed up with Perfect Pairs Oils & Vinegars to create a peppery balsamic spread loaded with strawberries and dark chocolate.

Bialkoski is in the process of building a new production facility and storefront operation at the corner of Portage and Maryland that will open in the New Year, but she won’t be flying solo. She will be sharing space with Hildegard’s Bakery, an artisan bakery that is owned by Integrity Foods. The co-shared space will include a café featuring products from both businesses’ menus.

This is exactly the type of outcome aimed for by Kremski and Smeall, whose goal has always been to support local artisans and provide them with a venue to showcase their talents in the best possible spotlight.

Nine years ago, Kremski and Smeall tapped into something significant. Their brainchild continues to evolve and now there are plans for expansion. Stay tuned!

Fache, who has lived in Vancouver and Toronto, says that nothing compares to the maker community in Winnipeg and the people who come out and support it. "You never know where conversations and ideas will lead you," she says, "and the new connections you are going to make."

Plan to attend Third + Bird’s annual holiday market, find your connection and be a part of revitalizing our community. If you travel by car, consider parking at the Portage Place Parkade, which is offering market-goers a special rate of only $2. Once you arrive at the market (enter The Bay at Graham and Vaughan), ask to have your parking slip validated.

colleenizacharias@gmail.com