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Guides
Boston craft fairs: 22 markets before Christmas
Last updated: Sunday, October 25, 2026. We refresh this guide every season, so check back before you head out. Boston craft fairs start this weekend, and they don't let up until Christmas Eve. The Affordable Art Fair fills the SoWa Power Station in the South End through Sunday, Oct 25, with work from more than 55 galleries and a whole wall of art under $1,000. General admission is $20 for one day (Fri noon to 9 PM, Sat 10 AM to 7 PM, Sun 10 AM to 6 PM). If handmade is more your speed, the Castleberry Fall Craft Festival is indoors at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington on Sat, Oct 24 (10 AM to 5 PM) and Sun, Oct 25 (10 AM to 4 PM). One $10 adult ticket covers both days. Closer in and free, the SoWa Open Market takes over Thayer Street and 500 Harrison Ave every Sunday from 11 AM to 5 PM, with local farmers, artists and food trucks. Below is every Boston craft fair, makers market and holiday market we could confirm with the organizer, in date order, with the weekend each one falls on. Every listing links straight to the organizer, so you can double-check hours before you go. Sundays through Nov 15 The last SoWa Open Markets of the year The SoWa Open Market runs Sundays only, and its final day of 2026 is Sun, Nov 15. That leaves four Sundays: Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 8 and Nov 15, all 11 AM to 5 PM and free. It's one of the biggest open-air farmer and artist markets in the city, set among the artist studios, galleries and shops on pedestrian-only Thayer Street in the South End. Fri, Nov 6 and Fri, Dec 4 SoWa First Fridays On the first Friday of every month, the studios, galleries and shops at 450 and 460 Harrison Ave open their doors from 5 to 9 PM for SoWa First Fridays. It's free and family friendly, and you're buying straight from the artists in their own workspaces. The next two are Nov 6 and Dec 4. On Dec 4, the SoWa Christmas Market is open next door until 10 PM, so you can do both in one night. Weekend of Nov 13 to 15 Topsfield, the art book fair, the MFA and Cambridge This is the busiest craft weekend of the fall, with four good options. The New England Craft & Specialty Food Fair is in its 30th year at the Topsfield Fairgrounds Indoor Arena, 207 Boston St in Topsfield. Hours are Fri, Nov 13 and Sat, Nov 14 from 10 AM to 5 PM and Sun, Nov 15 from 10 AM to 4 PM. A $12 adult ticket is good for all three days. Back in the South End, the Boston Art Book Fair brings more than 130 exhibitors, artists and publishers to the BCA Cyclorama at 539 Tremont St. Think artist books, zines, comics, prints and experimental publications, many of them handmade. It's free to the public on Sat, Nov 14 (noon to 6 PM) and Sun, Nov 15 (noon to 5 PM). If you want first look, the ticketed preview party on Fri, Nov 13 opens to exhibitors at 7 PM. On Sat, Nov 14 only, the MFA Artisan Market sets up in the museum's Shapiro Family Courtyard from 10 AM to 5 PM, with local jewelry, fashion, ceramics, stationery and other gifts. It's included with general admission, and MFA members get 10 percent off everything. Author Eric Jay Dolin and chef Joanne Chang are signing books from 11 AM to 1 PM. That same afternoon, the Unruly Maker's Market from Rebel Rebel Wine Bar fills Dear Annie at 1741 Massachusetts Ave in Cambridge from 2 to 6 PM with local artists and craftspeople. RSVP on the Eventbrite page. Starting Fri, Nov 6 Snowport in the Seaport The Snowport Holiday Market opens Fri, Nov 6 at 100 Seaport Blvd and stays open seven days a week through Sun, Dec 27, with 125+ makers, food, cocktail bars and live music. Getting in is free every day through the general admission line. On Saturdays and Sundays you can also buy a Fast Pass through the Seaport Insider app if you'd rather skip the wait. Through Dec 6, hours are Monday to Thursday 3 to 8 PM, Friday 11 AM to 9 PM, Saturday 10 AM to 9 PM and Sunday 10 AM to 8 PM. From Dec 7, weekdays open earlier, at 11 AM. Snowport is closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day and closes at 6 PM on Christmas Eve. Starting Fri, Nov 20 The SoWa Christmas Market The SoWa Christmas Market opens Fri, Nov 20 (4 to 9 PM) inside the SoWa Power Station, 550 Harrison Ave in the South End, and runs through Sun, Dec 27. Expect more than 100 makers, artists, designers and specialty food vendors under one roof. Admission is $10, kids 12 and under are free, and there's no re-entry, so finish your coffee first. In November, the market is open Tuesday to Thursday 4 to 8 PM, Friday 4 to 9 PM, Saturday 10 AM to 9 PM and Sunday 10 AM to 7 PM, plus Black Friday from 10 AM to 7 PM. Starting Dec 1, hours stretch to 9 PM on weeknights, 10 PM on Friday and 10 AM to 10 PM on Saturday, with Sunday still 10 AM to 7 PM. It's closed Mondays, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, and open 10 AM to 4 PM on Christmas Eve. Parking nearby is $10, cash only. Weekend of Nov 20 to 22 Marlborough, Somerville and Union Square Paradise City Arts Festival brings 175 artists and makers to 181 Royal Plaza Dr West in Marlborough on Nov 20, 21 and 22, with live demonstrations and two cafes. Hours are Friday and Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM and Sunday 11 AM to 5 PM. General admission is $16 ($14 early bird), students pay $10 with ID, a three-day pass is $24, and kids 15 and under get in free. Parking is free. On Sun, Nov 22, Somerville has two. The Holiday Plant Market fills two floors of Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave, from 10 AM to 4 PM with local artists, small businesses and handcrafted goods for the plant lovers on your list. A few blocks away in Union Square, the Boston Women's Holiday Market takes over Warehouse XI, 11 Sanborn Ct, from 11 AM to 4 PM with about 35 vendors. Thanksgiving weekend, Nov 27 to 29 Wilmington, Worcester and the Armory The day after Thanksgiving is a big one for craft shows. The Original Castleberry Faire, now in its 31st year, is back at the Shriners Auditorium, 99 Fordham Rd in Wilmington. Hours are Fri, Nov 27 from 9 AM to 5 PM, Sat from 10 AM to 5 PM and Sun from 10 AM to 4 PM, and a $12 adult ticket covers all three days. Out in Worcester, the 44th Holiday Festival of Crafts turns the Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Road, into a juried holiday market that usually has more than 50 fine craft artists. It runs Nov 27 and 28 from 10 AM to 5 PM and Nov 29 from 11 AM to 4 PM. Admission is $5, and parking is free. Closer to home, the Boston Women's Holiday Market at The Armory fills two floors at 191 Highland Ave in Somerville on Sun, Nov 29, from 11 AM to 4 PM, with about 35 vendors. Sat, Dec 5 A French market in Back Bay, a German one in Allston and Arlington Brewing's holiday market The French Library's Marché de Noël is in its 23rd year at 53 Marlborough St in Back Bay, from 10 AM to 4 PM. Shop French-inspired jewelry, housewares, books and gourmet treats, grab crêpes, and sample food, wine and spirits. Tickets are $5, or $3 if you buy early, and members and kids under 14 get in free. That afternoon, the German International School Boston hosts its Christkindlmarkt at 57 Holton St from 3 to 7 PM, with music, shopping, kids' activities, food and drinks. The school notes the event is pending license approval from the City of Boston, so check the page before you go. Arlington Brewing Company runs the Arlington Holiday Market on Sat, Dec 5 from noon to 6 PM, with more than 100 local vendors split between Arlington Town Hall and Mill Cafe. You'll find handmade gifts from local artists and crafters, neighborhood shops, food and Arlington Brewing beer, and admission costs nothing. Santa does story time at Town Hall at 1 PM and again at Mill Cafe at 4 PM, so plan to hit both. Weekends of Dec 11 to 13 and Dec 18 to 20 Harvard Square The Harvard Square Holiday Fair has been running since 1986, and admission is free. It's a juried fair with craftspeople from around the region alongside importers, on the lower level of the Galeria building at the corner of JFK and Winthrop Streets. It runs two weekends, Dec 11 to 13 and Dec 18 to 20, with hours of noon to 7 PM on Fridays, 11 AM to 7 PM on Saturdays and noon to 6 PM on Sundays. Sat, Dec 12 and Sun, Dec 13 Cultural Survival Bazaar The Cultural Survival Bazaar brings a winter solstice Indigenous art holiday market to the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St, from 10 AM to 6 PM both days. You can meet the artists, make an Indigenous craft, catch music and dance, and swap a gently used Indigenous book. Suggested admission is $10, anyone under 18 is free, and if you bring a friend on day two with your day-one ticket, you both get in free. Sat, Dec 19 Holiday market at Night Shift Brewing The Boston Women's Holiday Market at Night Shift Brewing, 87 Santilli Hwy in Everett, runs from noon to 5 PM. The organizer describes it as a family-friendly holiday party with giveaways, ornament decorating and special cocktails, plus a food truck and parking on site. How to find craft fairs this weekend Start with our Boston events calendar. Tap "This weekend" and the Markets & Shopping category, and you'll see every market submitted to us, with the venue linked to its page. Our things to do in Boston this weekend guide rounds up the best of it, and the weekly calendar email goes to 45,000 subscribers every Thursday, just in time to plan. Then go to the organizer. Craft fair dates move, hours change for the holidays, and a market that ran in a church hall last year can move across town. The organizer's own page is always the final word, which is why every listing above links to it. A few organizers run several markets a season, so they're worth bookmarking. SoWa runs the Open Market, First Fridays and the Christmas Market in the South End. Castleberry Fairs runs juried craft festivals north of Boston, on the Cape and in New Hampshire. The Boston Women's Market pops up all over Greater Boston. Markets for Makers held its Boston fall market at the SoWa Power Station on Oct 10 and 11, and its Boston page is the place to watch for the next one. FAQ Are there craft fairs near me this weekend? For the weekend of Oct 24 and 25, 2026, the Castleberry Fall Craft Festival is in Wilmington ($10, good for both days), the Affordable Art Fair is at the SoWa Power Station in the South End through Sunday ($20 general admission), and the free SoWa Open Market runs Sunday from 11 AM to 5 PM. For any other weekend, use the date headings in this guide or the "This weekend" filter on our events calendar. What are the best craft fairs in Massachusetts this weekend and next? This weekend, Castleberry's fall festival in Wilmington is the big handmade show. The weekend of Nov 13 to 15 is the busiest of the fall, with the New England Craft & Specialty Food Fair in Topsfield, the free Boston Art Book Fair in the South End, the MFA Artisan Market (Nov 14) and the Unruly Maker's Market in Cambridge (Nov 14). Paradise City Arts Festival in Marlborough follows on Nov 20 to 22, and the Original Castleberry Faire in Wilmington and the Holiday Festival of Crafts in Worcester both run Thanksgiving weekend. Where can I find craft shows next weekend near me? Next weekend is Oct 31 and Nov 1. SoWa Open Market is open Sunday, Nov 1, from 11 AM to 5 PM, and it's free. After that, the next big handmade weekends are Nov 13 to 15 and Nov 20 to 22. Check our events calendar for new markets, since organizers keep adding them through the season. What is the biggest Boston craft fair? Of the markets in this guide, Paradise City Arts Festival lists 175 artists and makers, Snowport lists 125+ makers, and the Boston Art Book Fair lists more than 130 exhibitors. The SoWa Christmas Market has more than 100 makers and food vendors and runs the longest stretch indoors, from Nov 20 to Dec 27. Are there free craft fairs in Boston? Yes. Snowport (free general admission every day), the Harvard Square Holiday Fair, SoWa First Fridays, the SoWa Open Market and the Boston Art Book Fair (Saturday and Sunday) are all free to get into. The Arlington Holiday Market (Sat, Dec 5) has no admission charge either. The SoWa Christmas Market is $10, and kids 12 and under are free. What's happening in Boston in November 2026? Snowport opens in the Seaport on Fri, Nov 6, and the SoWa Christmas Market opens in the South End on Fri, Nov 20. In between, Nov 13 to 15 brings the Boston Art Book Fair, the MFA Artisan Market and the New England Craft & Specialty Food Fair in Topsfield. Somerville has two markets on Sun, Nov 22, and Thanksgiving weekend has craft shows in Wilmington, Worcester and Somerville. For concerts, shows and everything else on in November, browse our events calendar. What happened to the Boston Christmas Festival? The Boston Christmas Festival's old web address, bostonchristmasfestival.com, now goes to the New England Christmas Festival, which is at the Mohegan Sun Earth Expo Center in Connecticut on Nov 6, 7 and 8, 2026, with 400+ artisans. Hours are 9 AM to 6 PM Friday and Saturday and 9 AM to 5 PM Sunday. If you want a big holiday craft show in Massachusetts, Paradise City in Marlborough and the Original Castleberry Faire in Wilmington are the closest matches.
5 ways to meet singles in Boston without another night of swiping
There is only so much a dating profile can tell you. Someone can have excellent photos, a respectable job and a very strong opinion about oysters, and you still have no idea whether you would enjoy sitting across from them. Meeting in person gives you something useful immediately: an actual conversation. Boston has organized dating events for that, along with classes, running groups and sports leagues that let you get to know people while doing something you like. The trick is choosing the setting that suits you. If you want everyone there to be looking for a date, buy a ticket to a dating event. If you would rather let a connection develop over time, give yourself a regular reason to leave the house. 1. Book a speed-dating night SpeedBoston Dating offers a fairly direct solution to the problem of spending an evening wondering whether the person you are talking to is single. You book a dating event, meet the other attendees and have a series of short conversations. According to the organizer, each rotation lasts six to seven minutes. That is enough time to get past your names and jobs, without committing your entire night to a conversation that clearly isn’t going anywhere. You make selections through a mobile scorecard, with until midnight to submit your choices. The organizer then lets you view your matches through its platform. SpeedBostonDating — SpeedBoston Dating Check the current event schedule for the venue, ticket price and eligibility details, because those belong to the individual event. Pick a date you can actually attend, then arrive ready to talk rather than treating the evening as an audition. 2. Join a sports league as a free agent Boston Ski & Sports Club runs adult recreational leagues across Greater Boston, including bowling, kickball, soccer and volleyball. You can register as a free agent, so you do not need to assemble an entire team before joining. Free agents are placed on teams whenever possible, and leagues typically involve one game a week on a consistent night throughout the season. Locations and divisions vary, so check both the venue and skill level before signing up. BSSC This is a good route if you like the idea of seeing familiar people more than once. The first week can be introductions, the next can be actual conversation, and you have a shared activity without having to manufacture one. These are sports leagues, so you should want to play the sport. A recreational division that fits your ability is a better choice than pretending you are suddenly very serious about competitive volleyball. 3. Run with Heartbreak Heartbreak Hill Running Company hosts free weekly runs in the Boston area. Its Thursday Signature Speed sessions start at 6:30 p.m. from local stores and include a coached warmup, drills and cooldown. The sessions cover roughly four to six miles, so this is for people who want to run, rather than a walking meetup with running shoes involved. Check the Boston running page for the current locations and session details before heading over. Heartbreak Hill Running Company The appeal is having a regular group and a clear reason to be there. You can talk before the workout, learn a few names and come back the following week without needing a dramatic opening line. You might meet someone you want to date, or you might meet people who make your Thursday better. Both are good reasons to keep showing up. 4. Take a class you actually want to take Cambridge Center for Adult Education offers classes in areas including cooking, art, languages, writing and performing arts. Browse the current catalog and choose something you would be interested in even if every other student were married. CCAE A course that meets several times gives you more chances to get comfortable with the group. Cooking and art classes also give you something specific to discuss, which helps if starting a conversation with a stranger usually feels like work. Read the course description carefully. Some classes are one-night workshops, others run for several sessions, and prices, materials and prerequisites differ. The point is to give your social life a bit more room. You learn something, meet people outside your usual circle and have a plan that is more interesting than refreshing a dating app. 5. Volunteer with Boston Cares Boston Cares coordinates volunteer projects around Greater Boston, with opportunities to get involved in community work alongside other volunteers. For adults joining its volunteer calendar, the process includes creating an account and completing an orientation. There is a one-time activation fee of $25 for individuals, with a $15 rate for students, seniors and unemployed volunteers. Get Involved Choose a project because you care about the work and can commit to it. Volunteering gives you an opportunity to spend time with people who share an interest in helping, but it is not an organized singles event. It can still be a worthwhile way to expand your circle, particularly if you return regularly and get to know other volunteers. A bigger social life creates more opportunities for introductions, friendships and, sometimes, dates. You do not need to book a speed-dating night, join a league and become a runner by next Thursday. Choose one thing that appeals to you and make room for it. If you meet someone you like, suggest something simple and specific: coffee after class, a drink another evening or a walk when you are both free. You have already had a conversation, which is a pretty good place to start.
Get to know Boston
The boozy theory behind Jamaica Plain’s name
Jamaica Plain’s name may owe something to Jamaican rum, but nobody has established who chose it or why. Other theories credit a Massachusett leader or England’s capture of Jamaica from Spain. The rum explanation has enjoyed a long career without producing a receipt. The rum story has company The Caribbean explanation comes in more than one version. One credits Jamaica’s rum and its popularity among local drinkers. Another connects the name to England’s capture of the island from Spain in 1655. In a 2019 GBH interview about the name, historical society president Gretchen Grozier described the rum story against the setting of rural Roxbury, with inns and taverns along the road to Dedham, now Centre Street. The suggestion is that the drink’s association with the area became a nickname. The conquest explanation proposes a different motive: commemorating an English victory. Grozier identified it as a possibility, while emphasizing the weak connection between the military event and the neighborhood’s name. Neither explanation establishes that local sugar refineries named Jamaica Plain. A connection to Caribbean trade and a documented naming decision are different things. The trade itself also deserves more than a cheerful tavern anecdote. Boston College’s Global Boston history of Jamaica Plain connects the wealth of early estate-owning families to international commerce involving enslaved people, rum and other commodities. That economic history is substantial even where the etymology remains uncertain. The “plain” in Jamaica Plain’s name Before Jamaica Plain, there was Pond Plain. The Jamaica Plain Historical Society’s neighborhood guide identifies that earlier name with Jamaica Pond and the surrounding land. At the time, the area belonged to Roxbury. “Plain” described the relatively level ground around the pond and village, rather than promising that every future resident would have a flat walk home. The larger neighborhood includes hills. Boston University’s architectural and community history project describes an agricultural district of hills, farms and orchards in 1800, with wealthy Bostonians establishing estates beside the pond and Stony Brook. The older geographical label helps explain half the name. The difficulty is establishing how “Jamaica” became attached to it. A Massachusett leader is one possible namesake One longstanding explanation connects the name to Kuchamakin, a Massachusett sachem, or leader, whose name appears in several English spellings, including Cutshamekin. In Walter H. Marx’s account of the naming question, published in the Jamaica Plain Gazette in 1992 and preserved by the historical society, Kuchamakin’s association with the pond provides a possible route from a person’s name to a place-name. Under this explanation, English speakers altered his name into “Jamaica.” The different spellings reflect attempts to represent an Indigenous name in English. The explanation concerns a person associated with the area, rather than a literal translation of the modern neighborhood name. Marx also records a story about an Indigenous basket maker named Jamaco who lived beside the pond. Her story belongs among the accounts people have passed down, but the article does not establish it as the naming event. Why Jamaica Plain’s name still has competing explanations The sources do not give us a single person announcing a name and explaining the choice. Instead, they preserve different attempts to make sense of one that was already in use. A historian describing a tradition is useful evidence that the story circulated. It is not the same thing as a record of the original naming. The place itself has also changed. The neighborhood's pond, farmland and country estates belong to an earlier version of an area now connected to the rest of Boston by city streets and transit. Reading an old geographical label against the modern neighborhood can make it sound stranger than it did to the people using it. You can still start with the most visible piece of the explanation: Jamaica Pond. The earlier name Pond Plain located the community beside an actual body of water. Take the gardens and neighborhood walks at their own pace rather than treating the name as a puzzle that has to be solved before you get there. The rum story remains a possibility, and an unusually durable one. Nobody has produced the naming decision that would turn it into the answer. Jamaica Plain has managed to keep the name without agreeing on who deserves the credit.
If you think Bostonians are unfriendly, just ask them for directions
You can walk past the same person three mornings in a row and get nothing, not a nod, not a howaya, and then that same person will stand on a corner walking you from Boylston to Park Street like their train can wait. The unfriendly reputation is not a myth. Lonely Planet tells visitors we will not greet them on the street or start a conversation on the bus, and then says most of us are more than happy to give directions if they ask. Condé Nast Traveler said the same thing years ago: nobody is looking to make friends on the commute, but if you need to get somewhere, almost any stranger will help. Dan Ruben, who ran Boston Green Tourism, told the Daily Free Press that if you ask people here for directions they are as helpful as people anywhere else, they just will not smile at you first. What looks like a cold city is a city that waits to be asked. Howdies are for people you already know. Directions are for anybody who needs them. Nobody says hi first Boston.com asked readers if this is a rude city and a lot of them said yes, then explained that the problem is what other places call friendly. A Chelmsford reader told Boston.com that people here mind their own business and can sound like curt Yankees when you ask a question, while other parts of the country talk louder and stay polite even when they despise you. A Somerville reader called it brusque and then listed airport rides, surgery pickups, and meals when you are sick. An Allston reader used the line a lot of Northeasterners already know, kind but not nice. Newcomers stand there waiting for someone to volunteer a hello and decide the city is closed when it does not arrive. Standing on Boylston looking lost does not count as asking, and hovering over your phone at Arlington does not count either. We assume you know what you are doing, which is the same system as the round: you start, they answer. If you want in, ask a real question. They will talk you all the way there The directions go on so long because the city does. A right turn here does not mean what it means in a grid town. Geoff Boeing mapped street bearings across U.S. cities and found Boston does not organize around one or two compass grids. The Back Bay and South Boston have grids that do not even line up with each other, and everywhere else the streets run in enough directions that a right turn tells you where you are facing for one block and almost nothing about where you are actually going. Boston Magazine already killed the cow-path story Emerson repeated in 1860. The likelier reasons are that the original peninsula was small and hilly, later neighborhoods were filled in as separate grids, and the city annexed whole towns that already had their own street systems: Roxbury in 1868, Dorchester in 1870, Charlestown, West Roxbury, and Brighton in 1873. You are not lost because you are bad at cities. You just walked from one village into another without a sign. That is why a Bostonian will not point and say two blocks west. They will send you toward the Common, the harbor, the Pru, or a Dunkin' they have used as a landmark since before the app, and they will tell you which T, which exit, and which side of the station puts you on the wrong street. They will use the name locals say and then the name on the sign, because those are not always the same thing. Boeing, borrowing from Kevin Lynch, called Boston hard to read as a pattern and easier to hold as landmarks, which is already how people here keep the city in their head. When you ask, you are not interrupting so much as opening that map. Just ask Do not apologize for three sentences and do not tell your life story, and do not grab someone mid-crosswalk. Step out of the flow, pick one person, and ask something specific: how do I get to South Station from here, where is the Green Line, is this the way to the North End. Then let them finish, because they will talk longer than the question requires, not to show off but to keep you off Tremont when you wanted Beacon. If they offer a second route, take the first one they trusted enough to say out loud. This is the icebreaker people look for when they are new and tired of the silent sidewalk. It is one of the few times a Bostonian wants to be stopped. You think you are bothering them. They think you finally asked for something they know how to do, and in a town that treats unsolicited chat like a violation, a real question is almost a favor. If you walk off while they are still talking you were not asking, you were testing whether we are nice, and we will still get you to Park Street either way.