Over 150 local artisans and entrepreneurs are getting the chance to showcase their work — and bolster the bottom line — at this year’s Downtown Holiday Market, an annual marketplace set up in front of the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum in Penn Quarter at 8th and F streets NW.
Now in its 14th year, the holiday market has established itself as a key opportunity for many of the city’s small businesses, some of which have participated multiple years. With space for a rotating roster of about 60 exhibitors each day, this year’s iteration launched on Black Friday and will operate daily from noon to 8 p.m. through Dec. 23.
Sales at the fair have a real impact on vendors’ success, with participation in the market having enabled some local businesses to grow by introducing their goods to new customers.
DowntownDC Business Improvement District and Diverse Markets Management produce the Downtown Holiday Market. According to the latter’s website, the DC-based operator of several markets is committed to “enhancing the ongoing integration of [its markets] into the community.” For example, on Giving Tuesday, Nov. 27, the market hosted a ceremony to celebrate investing in the Washington area through small businesses and charities.
Though the fair is geared toward hometown DC, it has garnered national attention, with hundreds of vendor applications for the selective, juried event coming from all over the United States. In November, Travel Magazine ranked it among the 20 Best Christmas Markets in the United States. MSN Lifestyle listed the marketplace as the third “most enchanting” holiday market in the country in 2017. Readers of USA Today ranked it No. 8 in the paper’s 2015 inventory of top 10 holiday festivals across the nation.
“Lots of old favorites return every year,” said Diverse Markets Management executive director Michael Berman, who directs the Downtown Holiday Market as well as The Flea Market at Eastern Market, which is DC’s longest-running market.
One example is Vigilante Coffee. This business started off with bike deliveries from its roastery in Hyattsville, Md. Then it moved to pop-up shops with an espresso machine on weekends at Eastern Market before eventually expanding to its first brick-and-mortar shop at 4327 Gallatin St. in Hyattsville and later a second location at 8200 Baltimore Ave. in College Park. Vigilante Coffee products are now sold in about 80 retailers in DC, including the locally owned grocery chain Yes! Organic.
Vigilante Coffee’s Kelli Hudson has been at the holiday market four years in a row and now manages the shop’s operations at the fair, where it has staff working every day for the entire month. The effort pays off: Hudson said she “sees people at the market who go to [Vigilante’s] cafes … and become regular customers.”
This year the store has a great spot right by the market’s main stage, where the aroma of its coffee wafts over audiences watching performances from local musicians as well as presentations by DC-based organizations and government officials.
Alongside veterans such as Vigilante Coffee are brand-new merchants. DC-based photographer Lucas Bojarowski was selected to participate for the first time this year. His artwork was featured in a booth run by Made in DC, the Department of Small and Local Business Development’s initiative to promote products made throughout the District. The booth switches to a new vendor every couple of days.
Marcella Kriebel, another artist at the fair, regularly displays her work at Studio 14 on the Arts Walk in Brookland at 716 Monroe St. NE. The downtown fair allows Kriebel to bolster her solid presence in an established arts community, presenting her art to a whole new audience. Kriebel said she “would love to see more markets.”
Visitors are introduced to unique merchandise, such as Maryland-based Cambo 3’s custom and handmade bow ties that feature the logos of the Washington Capitals and the Baltimore Ravens. Treats like candied nuts and hot doughnuts from local vendors The Capital Candy Jar and Migues Minis add to the festive shopping experience.
According to a promotional video that the DowntownDC BID produced for the market, one goal is to “support local creatives.” A booth at the Downtown Holiday Market does this by showcasing museums throughout the District. Penn Quarter alone has 13 museums with four more slated to debut in 2019, a sign that the area surrounding the market is flourishing, said Chase W. Rynd, executive director of the National Building Museum and treasurer of the DowntownDC BID.
The sentiment at the market, especially on Giving Tuesday, was that small, local businesses can flourish as well with the necessary support. “DC is a political town,” said Kristi C. Whitfield, director of the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development. “Vote with your dollars.”
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