On Saturday, Dec. 2, the City of Burlingame hosted its first-ever Winter Market in the Burlingame Community Center, with over 30 vendors selling holiday goods such as wreaths, baked goods, and jewelry. The event was organized by Claudia Vega, the city Recreation Supervisor, to help support small local businesses in Burlingame and the Bay Area.
“We have a lot of Burlingame residents that are selling here,” Vega said. “It’s great because we’re also encouraging people to then go down to Burlingame Avenue and shop the restaurants and make use of the beautiful area that we have.”
The Winter Market proved successful, with many community members attending. The market not only included shopping for holiday gifts but also a kids’ arts and crafts station to occupy children while their guardians shopped. The market is the first of its kind in Burlingame, but Vega expects this type of event to become a regular fixture.
“That’s my plan [to continue],” said Vega. “I want it to be bigger and better. So already, just things that we can do there’s always room for improvement and things to tweak. So, we’re already making lists of things that we’ll want to do differently for next year.”
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Many Burlingame’s community members gathered to shop for gifts from local businesses on Saturday, Dec. 2.
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Burlingame local businesses sold gifts to help the community begin holiday shopping with homemade goods.
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Edy Adudh, a vendor at the event who recently started making felt ornaments, was informed of the event by her sister, who attends Burlingame Parks & Recreation Center programs.
“Seeing people’s appreciation for my work [was my favorite part of the event],” Adudh said. “They get so excited. Seeing their faces when they’re looking around [the market].”
Katrina Robbinson, who sold jewelry at the market, was made aware of the event via Facebook.
“[My favorite moment from the event was] to meet all our neighbors, to greet our community,” Robbinson said. “Getting to know everyone, all the different people that came out today. The whole community came out, great conversation, getting to meet new people, new vendors.”
Lastly, Susie Lee, who attended the winter market, expressed her appreciation for the event but did acknowledge there was room for improvement in the future.
“We were hoping for a little bit more of a bigger space,” said Lee. “Some food, if you were looking for some food or some drinks to carry around, that would be my feedback.”
