Third Annual Digho Marketplace Continues To Grow
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Vendors will set up shop to sell custom, handmade and unique items at the third annual Digho Marketplace. Photo by Diane Marie Palma
By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com
The Conklin Barn in Huntington will be filled later this month with local vendors displaying and selling custom, handmade and unique items for the third annual Digho Marketplace.
Members of the community who attend the event, being held Nov. 11 and 12, can do some holiday shopping while supporting local artists and artisans.
Digho co-owners Diane Marie Palma and Maria Misko spearheaded the event three years ago as a way for members of their art club, Paura, to sell their work. The club brings local artists together for creative development and is run by Digho, a Huntington-based graphic design firm.
“The original idea was to have a space for the art members of our club to sell their work,” Palma said. “We just threw it together to help out some of our artists, where they have a platform to sell some of their work for the holidays.”
As it currently stands, Palma said that the event has grown so much, where so few vendors are from Paura.
“It’s grown with people we’ve met through our network and people that know that we like art,” Palma said. “We’re really behind their work.”
While the first year consisted of 10 vendors, the event has advanced to hosting more than 16 vendors this year. This will also be the first year that vendors will be stationed both inside and outside.
Palma explained that the significance of the event is to help promote local artists and create a place where they can sell their work.
“I love that it is a gathering of people who are extremely passionate about their art,” Palma said. “They make all these things with their hands but out of love and it’s so exciting to be surrounded by people who are creative. It’s a great collaboration of creative people who share their work.”
The marketplace will offer customers a variety of items, which include wax seals, organic bath and body products, pottery, ceramics, mosaics, handcrafted woodwork, candles, and artwork by an illustrator.
Vendors include Huntington-based Clayvista and Lightbringer Designs, along with Andrea Creates, Tina’s Toasty Toes, Laura Badke Pottery, The Crafty Nest, Sweet Peas and Gypsies, Alegna Soap and more.
The event will also have a suggested admission of canned good and unopened toys, which will be donated to Tri CYA in Huntington.
Palma said her hope this year is to “drum up more interest” in the event. “With this being the first year outside, I’m really looking forward to getting people off the street,” she said. “This is a big year because I think it’s going to let the town and the community know more about it, so I’m using this year as a jumping point to make it much bigger than what it’s been.”
The event at Conklin Barn, located at 2 High St. in Huntington, will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
