Crafts hit centre stage during Dartmouth At Dusk

An Alderney Landing craft show had been in the works for some time, but best laid plans don't always come to fruition.

The pandemic put plans in flux for the Dartmouth Makers, but event organizer Sarah Armstrong is watching things come full circle.

While the Indie Collective had originally done a show called Dartmouth At Dusk, the Makers have now adopted the name for their summer series of shows.

“The Collective has been inactive for four years now, and one of their members is now on our board. We asked if we could use the name, and now we’re doing it this summer,” said Armstrong.

She also owns vendor Bad Mouth Soap, and is so happy to see the crafts industry rebounding with shows like theirs.

“We are so glad the Indie Collective let us use the wording, and we’re glad to be back. Everything was shut down for so long, and there was little direction on rules. We had done virtual markets,” she said.

“We didn’t know what we could and couldn’t do in person, and until last year, we hadn’t had a show since 2019. Our volunteer board realized Alderney Landing was putting up a tent last summer in August, and we did a summer market.”

But there were only 16 vendors and they had to space out. So when Armstrong got to announce a four-date, four-month series of crafting events, she was thrilled.

The June event was rained out and happened last weekend, on July 8, 2022. There will be another on July 15^th, August 26^th, and September 23^rd.

“The first one was solid. We are right there at the terminal, and people are coming and going every half hour. It was so fun. We used to do shows for Mother’s Day in spring and a large one in winter. But those can be hard times to make money for vendors,” she said.

“It’s important we do these markets, and doing these summer shows is a lot of fun so far. We’ve gotten a great response.”

She said people really showed up last week, and things went very smoothly.

“Everyone was really happy it didn’t rain this time. Vendors were really happy, as were people who attended. We also had Café Luca there, and it’s just such an amazing mini-café,” she said.

“There were a lot of people, and transit being free on Fridays will create a great ebb and flow. The sun also stays out past 9 p.m. right now, which is great. Things are spread out and not too crowded, and I love that.”

There will be 22 vendors for each show, and every time will have different ones. There was a lot of interest on that side of things.

“We didn’t think it’d happen, but we got over 110 applicants. We have a juried market and wanted folks in every category, from cosmetics to ceramics to clothing and other things,” she said.

“We loved that there was so much interest, but we were sad we couldn’t take everyone. So right now we have the 22, plus Halifax Henna and Café Luca outside the tent. We will shuffle vendors monthly.”

Though the COVID-19 pandemic has caused turmoil for many, Armstrong is attempting to find a silver lining.

“A lot of people weren’t sure what to produce or do during COVID. But there was a sense we wanted to showcase quality work and show the local talent right here. People pivoted, shifted and experimented doing new crafts. They discovered new talents,” she said.

“We're making an effort to promote new crafters right now. It's our mission to provide affordable craft shows where makers and artists can sell good. There's so much support for this in Dartmouth.”

While Armstrong is clear COVID-19 is not over, she is happy to be seeing people out and about enjoying the market.

“No one is going overboard. We're still in a pandemic. But people are so excited to be enjoying things like this,” she said. “I haven't seen many of these people in two years, and we are offering great options for people at these markets.”

For more information about Dartmouth At Dark, visit alderneylanding.com/events/dartmouth-at-dusk/.