Designer dresses, Christmas notecards, paintings, plants ­­— it’s all locally made and it’s all at the 18th annual Home-Grown Alternatives (HGA) event this Saturday.

“If you want a gift for the discerning person, something locally produced, something different, something not mass produced then HGA is the place to get it from,” said HGA Co-Founder Christine Wellman of Omax Ceramics.

She said that while imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, she wants the public to know that HGA was one of the first Christmas crafts fairs of its kind in Bermuda.

“We didn’t put a patent on it, but we do have our own spin,” she said. “The spirit is very welcoming, lively and sincere. Artists actually work and produce a new body of work for the show.”

She talked about the origin of the event.

“Eighteen years ago, myself and several other local artists and crafts people would be invited too various events to sell our wares,” she said. “But the artists at the events were not promoted at all, they were just window dressing. We were invited to beautify the place. In some instances, we would pay a fee for being there and we wouldn’t make any money, but people were making money off of us.”

It was her friend Mary Tatem who came up with the idea of creating a dedicated arts and crafts fair for the Christmas season. At first the idea was a hard sell, because it was new.

“We wanted to brings together people who wanted to buy with people who wanted to sell,” said Mrs Wellman. “As artists we wanted to leave with less inventory than when we came.”

Event arrangers chose the Christmas season, because they had noted that many Bermudians went away during that time and wanted to give their foreign friends unique Bermuda gifts. Before HGA, if you wanted to achieve this, you had to run around to various artists studios around the Island.

HGA brought many different artists together under one roof. The fair has lots of ambience with the event location carefully decorated to a theme, and live music, this year played by Shine Hayward.

The event has proved hugely popular with people lining up before the fair opens, and others trying to sneak in ahead of time to buy things.

“We only do it once a year because it takes so much organising,” said Mrs Wellman. “People have been requesting we repeat the fair at other times of the year, but we think there is enough on with other people doing things at other dates.”

There will be 29 vendors offering their creative wares this year. Newbies to the show will be fashion designer Nicola Lucas of Aqua Designs, Pat Hall with her book Fond Recollections of the Prospect School for Girls, Paul Archer with nautical themed rope work, key chains, door mats and coasters, Irene Paris with paintings inspired by the beauty of nature, Shaheed Umrani with aroma fragrances and natural products for health and personal care. Tracey Caswell will sell her popular books Tea with Tracey and Twelve Nights with Tracey, Vivienne Hayward will sell water colour notes and Christmas cards, place mats tags and more.

Veterans to the scene will be Alandra and Akilah Swan, Almuriel Busby, Beverly Harvey, Burton Jones, Carla Marquardt, Carolyn Telford, Charmaine and Jerry Friday, Christine Wellman, Dan and Deanne DeSilva, Kelli and Rose Clair Thompson, Marguerite and Judy Bardgett, Mary Tatem, Milton and Rene Hill, Robin Marirea, Susan Buchanan, Terry Chapman, Gillian Ramsdale, Wendy Avery, Sharon Wilson, Monica Jones, and Steven West.

Sandra O’Brien will be running the cafe with Bermudian bake goods, home made soups, chicken sandwiches and more.

Home-Grown Alternatives is on Saturday (November 30) from 10am to 4pm at St Paul Christian Education Centre on Middle Road in Paget. There is no entry fee.

For more information see their Facebook page or their website at homegrownalternatives.com.