On Saturday, Dec. 6, Marin locals flocked to the halls of the Mill Valley Community Center for its annual Holiday Craft Fair. The attendees were greeted with lines

of tables piled high with locally made goods. Over 60 local businesses and artists were behind desks at the event, selling a wide range of items, from fresh honey to custom-printed flannels.

Cole Ross, Program Director of the craft fair, hoped to create an opportunity for local businesses and vendors to shine at this year’s event. 

“We care about things being handmade. We care about things being local. We don’t like any AI (artificial intelligence) stuff being involved. We want to keep [the craft fair] a local, small business thing that is handcrafted,” Ross said. 

Few vendors at the fair were more local than James Dowdy, who grew up in Mill Valley and now lives in Novato, deepening his roots in Marin over his time in the county. Dowdy enjoyed the fair because it allowed him to return to those roots. 

“I grew up on Mount Tam, so anytime I get to come back and be part of the community down here, I like to do it, because I don’t live here anymore,” Dowdy said

While the majority of vendors were local, some traveled from far outside of Marin to sell at the fair, such as tea farmer Patrick Sunbury, who is based in Stockton. Sunbury enjoyed finding people with similar passions at the craft fair despite its distance from his home. 

“It was great to meet new people who care about things that I care about, like having sustainable food production,” Sunbury said. 

In addition to giving an opportunity for vendors like Sunbury and Dowdy to shine, Ross hoped to whisk attendees away into a Holiday-themed world with this year’s craft fair. 

“I really want people to feel like they entered a different world when they come in here, and the decorations help with that,” Ross said. “So when you walk in, you’re not just in the Mill Valley Community Center, you’re at the holiday craft fair. We don’t want it to look like a multi-use facility, we want you to be reminded of the holidays as soon as you walk in, so you’re basically just entering a new realm.” 

To this end, the community center was carefully decorated with holiday lights and wall hangings, accompanied by a string duet performing Christmas classics on a balcony overlooking the crowd of attendees browsing stalls.

Sally Schroeder, one of these attendees, appreciated the goods for sale and plans to return next year. 

 “The [crafts] are nice, and [the fair’s] just fun. It’s a nice afternoon for me,” Schroeder said.