Handmade Arcade Celebrates 21 Years!
Written by Arlo Grey MacFarland
The grandma of all crafts fairs celebrates its 21st anniversary with 300 artists, craftspeople and makers at the region’s largest holiday shopping market. Taking place at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center at 1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd., expect to spend many hours making your way through the extensive selection of vendors selling everything from clothing, artwork, home decor and jewelry, to body products, toys, accessories, cards and much more. From Friday, December 5th to Saturday, December 6th, 2025, the convention center will be filled with dozens of artists from around the region and beyond.
This year, eight small businesses in Handmade Arcade’s BIPOC Maker Accelerator will be selling their handmade products. As part of Handmade Arcade’s Youth Maker Accelerator program, 15 individual youth maker businesses and nine groups of youth makers from school and community organizations will also sell their products at the Holiday Market.
Take a break from shopping to get creative in the free Hands-On Handmade Arcade area, where attendees can enjoy demonstrations, hands-on making, and community art projects led by partners such as Union Project, Assemble, AIR, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Millennium Scents and Frankenpins. New this year is the ticketed Sensory-Friendly and Retail Shopping event on Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. Get a first look at all the wares and shop crowd free at the Friday Night Preview Party from 6 to 8 p.m. and the Early Bird shopping session on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Plan your day now with the market’s virtual catalog. Pay what you can tickets are available for general admission shopping on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit handmadearcade.org.
