Christmas Craft Fair in STA School Gym

The STA Christmas Craft Fair & Market is a large and very popular holiday artisan market at North Vancouver‘s St. Thomas Aquinas School in November.

The one-day craft fair typically happens on a weekend at the beginning of November. If you like holiday artisan markets, you’ll want to attend this event! It’s a great one!

Visit aquinas.org for more details.

This article contains the following information about the STA Christmas Craft Fair:

STA Christmas Craft Fair in North Vancouver

The St. Thomas Aquinas Christmas Craft Fair is an annual event that attracts over 120 vendors. Vendors are jury-selected artisans, and the quality of the products is high. This year’s event marks its 36th edition.

Where and When

The Craft Fair takes place at St. Thomas Aquinas which is an independent Catholic school. The school and its gym were newly renovated a few years ago.

The school’s address is 541 West Keith Road which is about halfway between the Lions Gate Bridge and Second Narrows Bridge in North Vancouver. It’s about a five-minute drive from Lonsdale Quay and the Shipyards District. Free parking is available on neighbouring streets during the event.

The craft fair tends to run from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm on a Sunday in early November.

Click aquinas.org for more information about the event.

Admission Rates

Admission to the market last year cost $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. Children under the age of 13 get in for free. Tickets can be purchased at the school on the day of the event.

What to Expect at the STA Christmas Craft Fair

The St. Thomas Aquinas Christmas Craft Fair & Market is one of the Lower Mainland’s largest and best-run markets of its kind. It’s well-known for the quality of its products, and shoppers come not only from the North Shore, but from across Metro Vancouver too. It’s a first-rate event!

Expect to see an assortment of quality products including handmade clothing, beautiful home décor, fancy jewellery and gourmet food products. There is also a Bookstore as well as a Café which serves tasty warm meals, coffee and sweets.

The St. Thomas Aquinas Christmas Craft Fair is well known for its wonderful raffle baskets. Raffle winners are announced towards the end of the day, but ticket holders don’t have to be present to claim their prizes.

STA Christmas Craft Fair Video

For an idea of what to expect at the event, check out the following video. It shows scenes from the craft fair from a few years ago.

(The music in this video is Christmas Story by Oleksii Kaplunskyi from Pixabay.)

Information for Vendors

The STA Christmas Craft Fair organizers look for artisan vendors who offer locally-made, original, “vintaged-up cycled” and handmade items.

Participating artists have told us that STA students and volunteers treat vendors like royalty! Exhibitors are greeted by student volunteers who can help unload and reload products. The school even provides hosts who can mind vendor stalls temporarily if they need to step away for a minute.

In short, this North Vancouver market is very popular for both shoppers and vendors.

Seema's Jardin de Fleur — Seema’s Jardin de Fleur’s Silk Scarves

Tips & Advice

Below are some suggestions to help you make the most of your shopping experience at the St. Thomas Aquinas Christmas Craft Fair.

TIP #1: Chat with the vendors if you get the chance and it’s not too busy. Hear their stories and learn about their products. It’s fun, you’ll learn something interesting about what you’re buying, and the interaction between seller and buyer can be a special part of the experience. So many items have a story behind them!

TIP #2: The food served at the Café is delicious. Plan to stay for lunch!

TIP #3: Many vendors can accept credit card payment, but all can take cash (so we advise taking cash). An ATM is conveniently available on-site.

TIP #4: Bring shopping bags with you. Vendors do have bags to give out, but it’s preferable if you use your own reusable ones (and it’s better for the environment too).

TIP #5: Instead of doing most of your holiday shopping at big box stores or online through giant retailers, buy your gifts at craft fairs like the one at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. You’ll be supporting local artists while finding wonderful, unique, high-quality and affordable gifts for your friends and family.

Tips About the Raffle Baskets

TIP #1: Each basket is raffled off separately. When you buy your tickets you can place them in different bins in front of each basket. You can put all your tickets in one basket’s raffle bin (to increase your odds of winning the prize you want most), or you can put your tickets in multiple bins for chances to win a number of different baskets.

TIP #2: Your odds of winning the most popular baskets will be lowest (because they will have the most tickets in their bins). The odds of winning the less valuable/popular baskets will be highest (as you will be competing against fewer ticket holders).