Upon entering the ninth annual Athens Academy Holiday Market, community members are immediately awash with holiday spirit after taking in the festive displays of over 80 vendors and hearing the delightful strum of a string quartet of students playing classic holiday tunes. Located in the Sinkwich Spartan Center on the Athens Academy campus, the school hosted a preview night on Wednesday, Nov. 15 from 5–7 p.m in anticipation of the main event on Thursday, Nov. 16 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
The holiday market was packed with a wide variety of goodies including clothes, art, holiday decor, sweet treats, jewelry and plenty of University of Georgia merchandise. Sarah Gilbert, coordinator of alumni and parent engagement at Athens Academy, describes how curating a diverse collection was important when choosing which vendors would supply the event.
“We just want something that everybody can purchase,” Gilbert said. “We have clothes, we have jewelry, we have puzzles, they have ornaments, we have cheesecakes upstairs, we have Alumni Cookie Dough… It really depends on what somebody wants”
Organizing such a broad ranging event is no simple task. In fact, vendors applied for participation in January and advertising began as early as February or March. As the event drew near, items for the silent auction and raffle were selected and the gymnasium was divided and measured for each vendor. After working on the holiday market last year, parent volunteer and chair of the market Anne Fair Woodward shares her future goals.
“We just hope to get obviously folks from the Athens Academy community, but also the greater Athens community, to come and check out all the local area vendors and also see our school because we are really proud of it,” Woodward said.
Although organizers are looking for more Athens community attendees, the event is not lacking in potential vendors. Exceeding the space provided in the gym, vendors are spread throughout the building with mainly food vendors upstairs and other trinkets downstairs. With a waitlist of 20-30 other vendors, Gilbert describes her sense of excitement from observing the community’s eagerness to participate in the market.
While all Athens community members are encouraged to participate, the holiday market extends beyond just Athens. Vendors traveled from across the Southeast, including all the way down to Atlanta. Donna Burke, owner of High Street Sporte, a mobile and online size-inclusive athleisure company, shares why the company got involved with the event.
“We’re based in Atlanta, so Athens is super close,” Burke said. “We love to support local schools, local businesses, local events and that’s why we’re here.”
The Athens Academy Holiday Market brings on the holiday spirit while allowing members of this close-knit community to come together and shop a unique variety of gifts, ultimately creating a successful fundraiser for the school.