Holiday Craft and Gift Fairholidayfair@sccfheritage.org
Download Vendor Application
WHO: The SANTA CRUZ COUNTY FAIR HERITAGE FOUNDATION, a 501.(c)3 Non Profit Organization
WHAT: Continuing the Tradition of a GREAT HOLIDAY EVENT Started over thirty years ago….
WHEN: Friday December 2nd 10am – 8pm, Saturday December 3rd 10am – 4pm.
WHERE: Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 2601 East Lake Avenue, Watsonville
WHY: Our Foundation is a non-profit corporation raising money for improvements to our Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds. The Foundation bought the rights to this 27 year old Craft Fair six years ago and brought it back to life, adding decorations, great atmosphere, more advertising, and all around fun for not only our exhibitors/crafters but also for those attending. It has been called “The traditional start of the Holiday Season in the Pajaro Valley”, and we continue to grow the event adding new exhibitors and crafters and special events each year.
This festive event full of holiday cheer includes crafts, folk art, antiques, collectibles, gift foods, delicious refreshments at the food court, and free parking. The 25 foot high, Christmas tree will light up your child’s eyes! The Agricultural History Project will host a County Christmas. You can also tour the Rodgers House, and see model trains at the Santa Cruz County Railroad Historical Society. Santa will make a special appearance on Saturday. Children are invited to sit with Santa to share their Christmas wishes and have their photo taken. General admission is $3.00, children under 5 are free.
This is a juried show. A juried show is one where a committee reviews each of the vendors –exhibitors who apply to be a part of the show. After study of your application, pictures of your items, and pictures of how your booth is set up in a sales situation, we will notify you of your acceptance. If you are not accepted, your application fee will and pictures will be returned.
We occupy all three buildings at the fairgrounds, the Harvest Building , the Art Building, and the Crosetti Hall. We have two Food Courts serving great home cooked foods, one in the Harvest Building and the other in Crosetti Hall. With several different crafter/exhibitors in attendance, it’s the perfect place for families to start their Holiday Shopping. We also have a huge display of Holiday Poinsettias which welcomes you into the Harvest Building, a 25’ Christmas Tree and a 15’ Christmas Tree all decorated for everyone’s enjoyment. With holiday music playing throughout the grounds. We also have free hay wagon rides to the Agricultural History Project Museum and Gift Shop (all decorated for the season), and Free Tours of the HISTORIC RODGERS HOUSE decorated for the Holidays in traditional style. Back this year will be FREE tours of the Model Railroad Club’s Train Building! It’s a perfect place for families to have a great outing and get their shopping done at the same time.
Food is also something special at this event. In years past, the Foundation Elves have handled the cooking duties. With additional non-profit groups added to the mix, the food is a destination all it’s own. The groups will be cooking up their specialties all of which will be available to enjoy at the fair, and take home for dinner after a long day of shopping. Enchiladas, Soups, Fresh Baked Goodies, Salads, and more, it’s all there to enjoy!
Booth’s are divided into 10X10 spaces. No pipe and drape are provided. Exhibitors/Crafters may use their own tables and displays to create their area within the spaces marked. We provide two exhibitor/crafter passes per 10X10 for your use. Canopy’s are only allowed in certain areas and must be approved by Holiday Fair Management prior to use. 8’ tables are available from the Foundation at $5.00 per table per day.
Any vendor that has food items in their booth (whether pre-packaged or homemade items) must contact the Santa Cruz County Health Department for a Health Permit. It is the responsibility of the VENDOR to make this contact. Health Department officials will be on site to inspect any booth with food items and must comply to their rules. The Heritage Foundation has no control over this rule by the County of Santa Cruz. If you have a yearly permit, you must report that to the County Health Department.
Last year over 3000 paid admissions and another 400 volunteers and staff attended. Admission is $3.00 per person attending and parking is always FREE.
We place over $9,000 in advertising in various publications, newspapers, radio, television, and poster/handouts each year for this event. We also post 4X8 foot colorful signs on high traffic corners, highways, and other areas throughout our area. We also do an email flights to over 20,000. Wealsoo make available show art (posters and post cards) which you can hand out at other shows you attend. This year we will be having several promotions for savings on tickets Vendors will be kept aware of these promotions and asked to join in on some of them.
Set up is on Thursday from 9am until 6pm. We provide uniformed security Thursday and Friday nights from the time we close the buildings until we return the next morning.
Tear-down is Saturday beginning at 4:00pm (NOT ANY EARLIER), and all items must be removed from the building no later than 7:00pm that evening.
For additional information, you can send an email to holidayfair@sccfheritage.org, or call and leave a message at (831) 612-9118. A member of the Holiday Fair Committee will return your call or email.
Download this Application, print it out and fill in your information to become an exhibitor/crafter vendor at this year’s event. Then put together some pictures of your products, your booth set up at an event (if available) and send it with your deposit check to the Heritage Foundation Heritage Holiday Fair address on the application. It’s simple, just follow the instructions on the application page.
