2004 Bazaar Bizarre Boston! December 11, 2004

GET CRAFTY AT THE FOURTH ANNUAL BAZAAR BIZARRE DECEMBER 11

Local Crafters Combat the Typical Zombie-Holiday-Mall-Shopping-Hell with Unique DIY Craft Fair

The fourth annual Bazaar Bizarre, (Saturday, December 11; 4:00 ? 10:00pm, YWCA Central Square, 7 Temple Place, Cambridge, MA), is an underground craft fair featuring one-of-a-kind hip handmade gifts and rollicking entertainment. With over 70 vendors, local DJs, musicians, artists, zinesters and, everyone's favorite, Sleazy Santa, Bazaar Bizarre promises to warm the cockles of even the stodgiest Scrooge's heart.

Last year?s Bazaar Bizarre was a smashing success (a line ran around the building all day long!) so this year the event has moved to a larger venue?the YWCA in Central Square. The larger venue will include more vendors than ever, accommodate more shoppers, and present the first ever Bazaar Bizarre fashion show.

Bazaar Bizarre will feature a multitude of handmade, eccentric gifts for the discerning holiday shopper who?s more interested in supporting local crafters, rather than name brand blah mega-super-stores. Shoppers will find a plethora of girly handbags, kitschy house wares, zines and comix, hand-knit beer cozies, subversive silk screened clothing, hand crafted holidays greeting cards and so much more! This year?s Bazaar Bizarre vendors includes such DIY craft luminaries as Boy Girl Party (http://www.boygirlparty.com/), Fish Cakes Design (http://fishcakes.net/), My Paper Crane (http://www.mypapercrane.com/), and Sewing Stars (http://www.sewingstars.com/). Also on hand are the two of the foremost purveyors of consigned crafted goods: Plain Mabel (www.plainmabel.com) and Anezka Handmade (http://www.anezkahandmade.com/).

Bazaar Bizarre features an expanded entertainment roster that reads more like a happening night at a local club than a craft fair. The hip-shaking lineup includes two fashion shows brought to you by local design groups Trash Fashions, U.V. Protection and Mass Art designers. Maura Jasper and Hilken Mancini of Punk Rock Aerobics will be leading a demonstration of their internationally notorious aerobics. Guest Djs include Shirley Braha (Little Shirley Beans Records), Jon Hetman (Spoilsport), Don Shumai and more! You won't want to miss the outrageous theremin holiday carols by WMBR DJ Jonny "Spaceman" Bernhardt. And it wouldn't be a holiday event without having your photo taken with Sleazy Santa and his Naughty Elves cavorting in his oh-so-sleazy Sleigh Bed. As always, the Bazaar will include a DIY crafts table where attendees can craft themselves silly with paper, pipe cleaners and glitter or?new this year?take a free knitting lesson.

Bazaar Bizarre began in 2001 in the Boston-area as a hodge-podge of friends and acquaintances cobbling together their handcrafted DIY wares to sell and staging an offbeat entertainment extravaganza. Last year over 500 people shopped (and rocked!) ?til they dropped. In its fourth year, Bazaar Bizarre will rock Boston, Los Angeles and Cleveland in sister events that promise to be the events of the season. Organizers of the Boston event include the founder of Craftster.org (Leah Kramer), members of the musical collective Handstand Command (http://www.handstandcommand.com), and co-owners of the new Cambridge vintage and handmade goods boutique, Magpie on Huron (www.magpie-store.com).

Visit www.bazaarbizarre.org for complete details on vendors, entertainment, downloads, and directions.

For additional information, contact:
Simone Alpen at simone@bazaarbizarre.org
or
Dave Sakowski at dsakowski@magpie-store.com