New Toronto Holiday Market is coming back to Humber’s Lakeshore campus

The fifth annual New Toronto Holiday Market is being held at Humber Polytechnic’s Student Welcome and Resource Centre on Nov. 30. 

The market will span all three floors of the Welcome Centre, and feature stalls from local vendors and craft activities for kids and teens.

“People can certainly expect a very fun time,” says Bri Ford, an assistant curator at the Lakeshore Interpretive Centre. “It’s not just like a shopping market type environment that you might find at larger markets downtown. It’s not really the same stressful shopping vibe that you’d get at a mall or even at the Distillery District downtown. It’s very community oriented. It’s a very fun experience; it’s a lot of joy.”

The market has partnered with two local charity organizations this year – Haven on the Queensway and LAMP Community Health Centre. All the fees for vendor’s tables will go towards Haven on the Queensway – a food bank located that operates in and serves South Etobicoke. The craft tables and activities for youth will be hosted by LAMP Community Health Centre, a charity organization that provides various community programs in South Etobicoke.

“Every year we charge $50 per table or $25 for [a] half-table and we don’t touch that money. All of that money goes directly to a local charitable agency. We’re very cognizant of the fact that the neighbourhood that we are hosting our event in statistically has a high rate of people accessing food banks, [and] has a high rate of people accessing a variety of services geared towards low income residents,” says Ford. “We want to make sure that anyone can walk in with $20 in their pocket and come out with a nice gift or trinket from the market.”

This year is the first year the market will be held on all three floors of the Welcome Centre. It is also the first year that the market will be partnering with Humber’s Indigenous Education and Engagement to highlight Indigenous vendors. 

The market will take place from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. More information can be found on the Lakeshore Grounds Interpretive Centre’s website.