Santa Fe: Shoppers, mark your calendars

By Laura MacNeil
October 3, 2012
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Courtesy Santa Fe International Folk Art Market

Heads up: On July 12 and 13, Santa Fe will host the Fifth Annual International Folk Art Market. Handicraft artisans from more than 40 countries—including Zambia, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Rwanda, and Botswana—will gather to sell their wares at Milner Plaza (folkartmarket.org), tickets from $5. The market is set up so that you can meet the men and women who created the artwork for sale, buy international snacks like Cameroonian meat pies from vendors, listen to Japanese Taiko drummers, and watch Chinese dragon dancers in action.

Since its inception, the market in Santa Fe has become the world's largest international folk art market. The wares for sale are renowned among art collectors for their affordability and high quality. The market's loftier goals, however, are fostering economic and cultural sustainability for folk artists in attendance: Artists participating in the market are invited to a free, two-day business-development workshop, and the costs of traveling and shipping their goods to Santa Fe are often offset by grants and donations.

The only problem is finding a free hotel room when the market is in town, so act fast!

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