Small business owners brought Bermuda residents into the Christmas shopping season during a vendors showcase over the weekend.

The holiday market at St Paul’s Anglican Church in Paget featured more than 20 stalls on Saturday, where homemade crafts and other goods were available for sale.

Carolyn Arnold, who has been organising the event for years, said she wanted to give local artisans a place to sell their wares.

She explained: “There’s nowhere for vendors to go, and we were trying to get Bermudian artisans and people who basically bring in stuff or make their own stuff.

“We always try to be the first market before the Christmas rush, so we basically start off all the Christmas markets.”

Ms Arnold said that more than 100 people visited the market throughout Saturday, with the morning being the busiest time.

Visitors were treated to freshly baked eatables, soup with bread rolls and Portuguese doughnuts.

The market featured many young craftspeople, including accessory designs from Flow by Nico.

Arianna Parra, 12, said that she sold more than 30 bracelets and about four keychains through her business, Ari’s Jewels.

She said: “We’ve made a lot of sales. I’ve even had to make some more bracelets because we’ve been selling out.”

The schoolgirl has been running her business for two years with the help of her parents.

She said that the Christmas market helped her to improve her business acumen and grow as an entrepreneur.

Miss Parra explained: “Markets like this really help me learn about what the pros and cons of being an entrepreneur are, like how to communicate with customers and how to perform as an entrepreneur in public.”

Mya Albuoy said she came out with her daughter, four-year-old Kaomi, to support a co-worker, Yolanda Somner, the owner of Bits & Bobs.

She added that although she initially went to support her colleague, she found herself interested in all the available crafts.

“I never knew about anything like this,” she said. “If it wasn’t for my colleague then I would never have known about this.”

Ms Albuoy added: “It’s nice to see small businesses coming together to showcase their talents.

“I think the community should come together more to support small businesses.”

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