Event planned at Sarasota Municipal Auditorium and surrounding venues on Dec. 14-15
Atomic Holiday Bazaar, season 14, will return to the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium, the Bay Front Room and Plaza De Santo Domingo — the latter, for a street fair — on Saturday, Dec. 14, and Sunday, Dec. 15, organizer Adrien Lucas has announced.
After moving to Sarasota from Los Angeles 19 years ago, Lucas “decided to bring a bit of L.A. with her by creating a show with outlandish colorful craft and interesting people,” a news release explains. Atomic launched in 2006, “showcasing 50 unconventional crafters who needed an affordable and welcoming venue to sell their unusual handmade wares. By producing an alternative craft show for Sarasota’s hip shoppers, Atomic quickly grew into an annual Sarasota holiday shopping tradition,” the release adds.
The show proved such a success that it expanded to a full weekend in 2007, the release notes. In 2008, Atomic grew from the main auditorium to the Bay Front room to accommodate the ever-growing number of talented applicants and dedicated shoppers, the release explains. In 2015, Atomic expanded again, opening up its first street fair and jumping on the trend of including a handful of local food trucks with delicious fare “and indie-boutiques on wheels in refurbished school buses or campers,” the release notes.
This season the show will introduce a number of new makers who have the opportunity to participate because of a number of “Atomic Misfit Makers” retiring from the craft-making scene, the release points out.
Atomic continues to feature a wide range of unusual items for all: screen-printed T-shirts; faux taxidermy; upcycled everything, ranging from home décor to clothing and jewelry (“for example, think of ‘upcycled’ as copper pipe that has been refitted into a desk lamp); vintage clothing; kitsch and jewelry; “lowbrow to elegant fine art”; holiday cards; “jams, jellies and the best canned pickle selections ever”; one-of-a-kind baby clothing; humorous chatchkes; ornaments; knits; catnip toys; “doggie stuff”; felted art; plants; plushies (“unusual and humorous creatures”); “p;p culture-graphic art posters”; “dark sentiments”; body products; candles; “beachy vibe stuff”; ethnic Latin textiles; rock ’n’ roll “edgy clothing”; “sweet little creations that make you sigh” — “get the picture? No artsy stone unturned, Atomic has something for all,” the release adds.
“The first lucky 100 adult’ish humans who enter the main auditorium at the stroke of Noon receive a tote that features the current marketing artwork created specifically for the show,” the release notes. Those totes will be filled with vendor swag and coupons that may be used during Atomic, the release adds. Totes will be handed out by local Roller Derby league members the Bradentucky Bombers, “who have been Atomic’s ‘welcome wagon hosts’ since 2006,” the release says.
Admission to the main auditorium will be $5 for adults; children age 12 and under will get in free to that room.
On a budget? The Bay Front room and Street Fair will be free to enter. “Food trucks and the auditorium cantina will be open for hungry shoppers,” the release notes
“Atomic is family friendly to PG-Rated adult content,” the release points out.