Etsy Made in Canada is this Saturday from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM on King Street, and organizer Moréna McDonald says they’re doing something special to mark the milestone.
“Normally we have one charity run the door prizes table or some other fundraising activity and they get to keep the proceeds from that. This year, I’ve decided to have two charities at the event, so we’ll have Big Brothers Big Sisters of Chatham-Kent doing a barbecue, and the local Scouts Group running the door prizes,” says McDonald.
The event features dozens of vendors who sell their handmade products online on Etsy. The website allows makers and artisans worldwide to sell their wares to customers all over the world.
This year, McDonald says it’s their biggest event yet in Chatham. More than 37 cities across Canada are holding similar events today.
“Back in 2014, I started organizing this event with people from all over Canada. We were approached by Etsy Canada to run these events in our cities and I jumped at the opportunity to help showcase the talent in Chatham-Kent. Since then, we’ve grown significantly across the country. Here in Chatham, we started with 22 vendors in 2014, and now we’re up to 53. Everything sold at the event is actually made right here in Chatham-Kent, which is pretty cool,” says McDonald.
Similar events are taking place in cities across Canada on Saturday, all organized by local Etsy sellers and volunteers. McDonald says Etsy Canada supports organizers with guidance and resources, but it’s the locals who actually put on the event.
She says the event typically draws several thousand people to downtown Chatham.
It’s taking place outside in King Street Commons at the Downtown Chatham Centre on Saturday, September 29th from 10 AM – 4 PM.
You can find the Facebook event page here.
McDonald says she has also partnered with the Chatham-Kent Small Business Centre on a workshop teaching artisans how to sell on Etsy. She started as an Etsy seller in 2012 and has seen the platform grow since then. That event is taking place on October 10th during Small Business Month.