In years past, the Chattanooga Market has ended its season each year with the Holiday Market, which has taken place under the First Tennessee Pavilion the first weekend of December. Holiday Market Too was introduced in 2010 as an extension and to address consumer interest in a longer shopping season with Market vendors. In 2011, the 2nd year of the Holiday Market Too was held at the Chattanooga Convention Center. The success of this indoor event has led to the Chattanooga Market doubling its retail space with the venue and expanding the December dates/times for 2012.
Chris Thomas, executive director of the Market, said, "Expanding our holiday market season at the Convention Center was a leap of faith, but we quickly filled the venue. The feedback from our customers was tremendous, which has led us to grow the festival even further this year. We are committed to growing this event into the highest-quality and most-successful producer-only holiday festival in the region. We're seeing strong and increased demand for local and high-quality artisan products; creating additional opportunities for our community is what we do, and our increased focus on the holiday shopping season is a natural expansion."
In 2011, over $250,000 of local products and services were purchased during the combined Holiday Market events; over $2 million in vendor sales were reported for all events by nearly 400 participating vendors.
Currently, the Chattanooga Market is accepting reservations and applications from current and prospective vendors who wish to participate in the Holiday Market Too. All information on becoming a vendor and reserving space at one or both of these events can be found at the website
http://holiday.chattanoogamarket.com. As with all Chattanooga Public Markets, the Holiday Markets are producer-only, meaning that the person applying must have made or grown the product themselves.
Chattanooga Market/Holiday Market at First Tennessee Pavilion:
Saturday, Dec. 1, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday Dec. 2, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Chattanooga Market/Holiday Market Too at Chattanooga Convention Center:
Saturday, Dec. 8: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 9: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 15: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 16: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 21: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 22: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 23: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.