Vendors at Montevallo Merry Market, Photo by M.K. Bryant. By M.K. Bryant, News Editor
The Montevallo Arts Collaborative, which serves as the city’s arts council, hosted its first Montevallo Merry Market, a holiday-themed arts and crafts market, on Nov. 25 in correlation with Small Business Saturday.
The event was held at the Village on Valley from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Montevallo Arts Collaborative president Melanie Poole explained that this location allowed for visitors to not only support the local artists, but also the local restaurants in the surrounding area—Slice Pizza, Boho Tea, C’s Cake and Coffee House and Sunrise Donuts.
“We had great morning traffic. Of course, it’s Iron Bowl Saturday, so when the Alabama-Auburn game came on we had a dip in traffic, but, all in all, I think it was very well attended. We had lots of children come out for selfies with Santa, and everyone loved the snow,” Poole said.
The snow, she explained, was the result of machines blowing soap suds for children to run through. Santa also attended the event from 11 a.m.- 3 p.m.
Once the Iron Bowl started, an audio broadcast of the game was played for both vendors and customers to listen to.
The event featured 60 artists selling their work. Booths spread throughout the parking lots between Slice and Milestone Academy.
The Montevallo Merry Market was sponsored by Montevallo Family Dentistry, The Shelby County Reporter, Birmingham Christian Family Magazine, Shelby County Arts Council, Montevallo Main Street, Montevallo Chamber of Commerce and the City of Montevallo.
“I just want to thank everybody in Montevallo for coming out for each one of our festivals and helping the Montevallo Arts Collaborative bring the arts to Montevallo,” Poole said.
People interested in the Montevallo Arts Collaborative can email the organization at montevalloarts@gmail.com. Membership for students is $10 per year, and individual membership is $25 per year.
M.K. Bryant is a contributing journalist for The Alabamian. She’s majoring in mass communication with a concentration in multimedia journalism, and she’s double-minoring in theatre and creative writing. When she’s not busy watering her plants or writing, M.K. can probably be found wandering around an art museum or a library.
