November 25, 2022
By Woodrow Kolomvos, Contributing Writer
As November comes to its end, residents of Brampton are in for a special treat to continue the celebration of this year’s holiday season with the Shine Bright Holiday Market.
This holiday market event will feature 18 craft, artisan, and food vendors, along with a handful of local businesses creating handmade gifts that are perfect for sharing with the ones you love. Brampton families can look forward to an appearance from Santa, as he will be visiting from the North Pole to stroll around Garden Square and chat with residents. Santa’s elves will also be attending to entertain attendees with magic, balloons, juggling and more.
Hosted by Hello Local, a platform created to support local small businesses and charities across Canada, in partnership with Downtown Brampton BIA, this event is the first of its kind for the downtown.
For Hello Local founder and event organizer, Linda, the Shine Bright Holiday Market is special for the residents of Brampton because, “The Shine Bright Holiday Market is a free event that brings the community together to kick off the holiday spirit.” She remarked that, “Residents of Brampton can indulge in festive drinks and food, enjoy holiday movies and music, take photos with Santa as well as shop for handmade, one-of-a-kind gift ideas from local small businesses, of which some are also residents of Brampton themselves.”
Hello Local is no stranger to supporting local businesses. In the platform’s first blog, “Why Shop Local”, published in 2021, they emphasized what it really means to shop local, explaining that, “Shopping local means supporting a small business owner’s dreams, supporting a local family with their day-to-day expenses so they can get by, and supporting our economy by putting money back into it.” Since its founding, Hello Local has hosted several events such as Green Markets (sustainable, eco-friendly and vegan products), Sweet Markets (food and dessert products), Mall Markets, and Streetsville Fall and Christmas Markets.
For Downtown Brampton, Linda highlighted that “The Shine Bright Holiday Market positively contributes to the businesses of Brampton, as there are a few local Downtown Brampton businesses participating in the event. Residents can partake in the festivities and then spend the day in Downtown Brampton to check out the local shops and restaurants.”
After a few difficult years following the COVID-19 quarantine lockdowns and, the current economic uncertainty, there is no time like now for residents of the downtown to head out and explore what local businesses have to offer and contribute to their communities.
The future is bright for Hello Local and their exciting steps into Brampton. This is only the beginning for their partnership with Downtown Brampton BIA, as after the Shine Bright Holiday Market, they will be back right, this time in Vivian Lane, with a smaller Holiday Pop-up Market that will continue every Saturday through December. This pop-up market will also host a Fill-A-Bus Donation Drive in support of Regeneration, a 365-day facility that offers several life-giving programs and services throughout Brampton.
When asked about what residents of Brampton can look forward to from Hello Local, Linda had this to say, “Hello Local organizes and curates other events in various locations across the GTA and Montreal and we hope to bring those fun and successful events to the residents of Brampton. You can check out our past events as well as upcoming events on our website: hellolocalshops.com. Thank you!”
The Shine Bright Holiday Market will be happening on Saturday, November 26th, from 10AM to 6PM in Garden Square. The Shine Bright Holiday Pop-Up Market will happen on November 27th from 10AM to 4PM in Vivian Lane, and return on December 3rd, 10th, and 17th. If you would like to learn more about the markets, check out the events page.
