Handmade Arcade

From Handmade Arcade Website:

FREE ADMISSION

SATURDAY, DEC. 3, 2016
11am to 7pm
David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown Pittsburgh

Handmade Arcade (HA), founded in 2004, is Pittsburghs first and largest independent craft fair. Now in its twelfth year, HA brings young, innovative crafters and progressive do-it-yourself designers to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on December 5, 2015 to sell, their handmade, locally produced, and offbeat wares at a bustling marketplace. HA is highly anticipated event that attracts more than 9,000 attendees in one day. HA provides craftspeople and artists working outside mainstream and fine arts sectors with a grassroots, high-visibility venue to sell wares, build community, network and share their artistic practice.

Handmade Arcade is run by a collective of creative Pittsburghers who have helped to shape and bolster Pittsburghs independent craft scene over the past nine years. The groups founders who, along with new volunteers, still run the event today were inspired to organize a craft fair of Pittsburghs own that would tap into a national movement and provide a welcoming venue for artists and shoppers to come together. Handmade Arcades growth has coincided with the international resurgence of crafting, as new generations are reclaiming and reinventing craft materials and methods.

BUY LOCAL / SHOP SMALL
HAs target audience are environmentally and socially conscious, forward-thinking consumers of all ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities. HA attendees are active supporters of small, independent businesses and the buy local/buy handmade movement. In turn, they prefer to use their resources and time to support small, independent artists. They come to HAs marketplace for items to express their own individualism, creativity, and originality, as well as a commitment to conscientious and thoughtful consumerism.

RECORD BREAKING CROWDS
In 2004, Handmade Arcade held its inaugural event at Construction Junction in Point Breeze with 32 vendors and 1,000 attendees. Last year during our Decade of DIY celebration, HA welcomed 157 vendors from all over the country with over 9,000 attendees to our one day event. In 2013, Handmade Arcade was listed in the Pittsburgh Business Times as the 7th largest public show in the area, competing with the Pittsburgh Home and Garden and Auto Show.