By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — Holiday shopping will be closer to home for Upper Manhattan residents looking for unique gifts this season as a group of artists and merchants kick off Inwood's first Annual Holiday Market.
The three-day event, which begins on Dec. 4, will feature unique products made by 15 local merchants and artisans who will sell jewelry, artwork, T-shirts, bags, baked goods, kids art supplies and lingerie, all "original, handmade gifts with a strong neighborhood feel," according to event organizers.
The artists and sellers banded together with local nonprofits in the hopes of fostering a deeper sense of community while "sparking" the economy in Washington Heights and Inwood.
For Tony Peralta, a local artist and one of the market founders, the event is also a matter of convenience.
"I've personally have gotten tired of lugging around my goods and table on the train to go downtown and Brooklyn and do the fairs out there," he said. "Along with the local artists living in up here we have some new great businesses that are adding to the new look of Washington Heights and Inwood."
The Annual Holiday Market was thought up by Leo Vasquez from the Audubon Partnership, Marcela Xavier from Inwood’s only yoga studio Bread and Yoga and Peralta and is spearheaded by the Audubon Partnership for Economic Development and the Inwood Merchants Association.
"It's a great place to introduce these nuevo businesses to people that might not be familiar with them," Peralta said.
The final list of vendors will be posted on the market’s website by late November.
The Annual Holiday Market will take place on Saturday, Dec. 4, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday Dec. 11 from 1:30 to 9 p.m. at Bread and Yoga, located at 4951 Broadway, at 207th St. on the Second Floor. And on Saturday, Dec. 18 from 3 to 9 p.m. at the Audubon Partnership Headquarters located at 513 W. 207th St., near Post and Tenth Avenues.
