Moncton’s Largest Craft Fair Returns Despite COVID-19 Numbers – New Brunswick | The Canadian News

For many, Turner’s Christmas at the Colosseum It is a Christmas tradition.

Hundreds of manufacturers, artisans, and small businesses in one place have made it a perfect place for holiday shopping.

That is, except for 2020, when the market was canceled in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was good,” says artisan soap maker Kelli Young, who has brought her “Soap Shack” to the show for nearly 20 years.

“I was kind of happy that we didn’t have one with the situation we were going through at the time.”

At this time last year there were 119 confirmed cases of COVID-19 throughout the province.

Now, there are 295 cases in the Moncton region alone.

In the year since vaccines began circulating and New Brunswick has shifted to a more regionalized approach to gathering restrictions, the Moncton region has seen many cases in recent weeks amid high numbers of cases and hospitalizations.

Health Minister Dorothy Shephard said Thursday that a regionalized circuit breaker in that public health zone was not effective.

READ MORE: NB Health Minister Doesn’t Rule Out More COVID-19 Restrictions Ahead of the Holidays

That circuit breaker went up a week before the craft fair opened.

Still, both attendees and vendors faced mask and proof of vaccination requirements if they wanted to hit the show floor this weekend.

Seamstress Denise Richard, who has sold dog clothes at the fair for nine years, says that coming back this year was her motivation to get her shots.

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“I got vaccinated right at the last minute,” says Richards.

Their booth, Le Woof, saw a steady stream of shoppers throughout the weekend.

Joe Savoie, producer of the craft show, says people seem happy to be away from home.

“Everyone on the floor, from the artisans to the show goers, is the same, a kind of sigh of relief, although there are restrictions, still very happy to be here.”

Savoie says organizers were on the lookout for COVID-19 cases in the area and across the province until opening day.

The organizers only made the call to set up this year’s show about a month ago.

“It all comes down to boxes, circuit breakers, locks, a little bit of everything,” he says.

“Things went well, we were lucky. Circuit breakers lifted, not locked.

“We were expecting the cases to go down a bit more and we still are, but everyone is wearing their masks, everyone is doing exactly what we ask of them,” says Savoie.

It says that about 200 suppliers came this year, usually there are about 300.

READ MORE: Marine vessel sellers say market organizer withheld refunds for months

Young says things have slowed down a bit at his Soap Shack stand, but having leftover produce from this year isn’t much of a concern.

“It’s okay if you have a supply of soap because actually the older the soap, the better it gets.

“It is like wine. When he gets older, it’s really nice, ”he says.

While this year’s Christmas at the Colosseum is over, you can find both the Soap Shack and Le Woof at the Moncton Farmers Market every Saturday.