Where a Fairbanks Holiday Bazaar Is Held Tells You What It Sells
November 5, 2026
November 5, 2026
On a Friday afternoon in November 2013, Donna Northway of Northway was at Chief David Salmon Tribal Hall on Clay Street, working on the beadwork for a baby birch-carrier strap. She also made purses, men's slippers and regalia for her family. "I take pride in my beadwork," she told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, whose photographer caught her at the Tanana Chiefs Conference Christmas Bazaar.
Thirteen years on, the bazaar is back on the calendar in the same hall at 111 Clay St. That address does a lot of work. The Fairbanks holiday season runs through a hockey arena, a mall, a cultural center, a Native corporation's headquarters, a UAF building and several schools. Each building sets its own hours, decides who can sell, and limits what can end up on a table. Once you know the building, you have a pretty good idea of the bazaar.
The Explore Fairbanks holiday bazaar roundup shows how the season is put together. The Carlson Center at 2010 2nd Ave comes up again and again. It held the Go Winter Expo on October 24–25. It hosts the Fairbanks Holiday Marketplace this weekend, the Black Friday Shopping Expo over Thanksgiving weekend, and the Tanana Valley Farmers Market Holiday Bazaar on December 5.
These are four different events with four different sets of hours, all in the same arena. The Carlson Center gets the big multi-day shows because it can hold a large floor of booths for a full weekend. The Holiday Marketplace starts Friday:
The Black Friday Shopping Expo is two weeks later: 1 to 6 p.m. on November 27, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November 28 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November 29. Bentley Mall at 32 College Rd does the same weekend-long format at a smaller size. Its Fall Bazaar runs 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on November 21 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November 22.
The Centennial Center in Alaskaland at 2300 Airport Way is the other weekend host. It has the Northern Lights Winter Market from noon to 6 p.m. on November 21 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November 22, then the Handmade Holiday Market from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November 28. If you're shopping the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the Handmade Holiday Market and the Black Friday Expo are open at the same hours in two different buildings.
The two bazaars that Explore Fairbanks describes as annual showcases of Alaska Native-made arts, crafts and artisan goods are on a completely different clock.
The Tanana Chiefs Conference Annual Christmas Bazaar is Thursday and Friday, November 19–20, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Doyon Arts & Crafts Bazaar is Thursday and Friday, December 3–4, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Doyon Plaza Building, 1 Doyon Place.
Neither one falls on a weekend. Both run on weekdays during business hours, in buildings that are workplaces the rest of the year. If you work a weekday schedule, it may take a long lunch or a planned morning off to get to these two, the same way it would for anything else downtown at those hours. Tanana Chiefs Conference's own listing for the bazaar asks shoppers to shop local and support Indigenous artists. The 2013 photo shows the kind of work that brings people to the Tribal Hall: a beadworker from Northway, finishing a birch-carrier strap at her booth.
The schools hold their bazaars on weekends, one day each, mostly 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.:
| Date | Bazaar | Address | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Nov 14 | Hutchison Holiday Bazaar | Hutchison High School, 3750 Geist Rd | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Sat, Nov 21 | North Pole High School Christmas Bazaar | 601 NPHS Blvd | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Sat, Nov 21 | Ryan Middle School Holiday Bazaar | 1450 Cowles St | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Sat, Dec 5 | Weller Elementary School's First Annual Winter Bazaar | 635 Elementary Drive | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
Weller is new on the circuit this year. The roundup lists it as a first annual event. November 21 is the busiest Saturday on the November calendar. North Pole High, Ryan Middle, the Bentley Mall Fall Bazaar and the Northern Lights Winter Market are all open that day.
The university has its own slot in the middle of the week. The LARS & Friends Holiday Market runs Wednesday, November 18, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the UAF Murie Building at 2090 Koyukuk Dr. That's the day before the TCC bazaar opens.
The Tanana Valley Farmers Market Holiday Bazaar is the one event where the building's rules are published. Its 2026 vendor application says everything sold has to be grown, made or produced in Alaska, and that space is limited. Vendors can sell packaged food to take home. They can't cook or prepare food on site. The application also says there will be an ATM at the venue.
Vendors pay $175 for a booth if they belong to the Tanana Valley Farmers Market Association and $225 if they don't. For comparison, the market's year-round description covers Alaska-grown produce and plants and Made in Alaska and Silver Hand arts and crafts. The December bazaar takes that summer standard indoors to the Carlson Center for one day, Saturday, December 5, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. If what you want is jam or smoked fish to put in a box and mail, this is the bazaar where an Alaska origin is a condition of selling.
The first Saturday in December has more going on than any other day of the season. Laid out in order, it can fill a whole day:
The Doyon bazaar closes at 5 p.m. the evening before, so anyone planning to shop both the Native arts bazaars and the Farmers Market bazaar has a Thursday or Friday trip to Doyon Place and then a Saturday at the Carlson Center.
The last major bazaar weekend moves to the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitors Center at 101 Dunkel St. The Winter Solstice Holiday Bazaar runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, December 11, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 12. Explore Fairbanks described last year's bazaar as a place for locally made artwork and Alaskan treats. On the Southside that Friday, the Southside Winter Holiday Market runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the JP Jones Center, 2400 Rickert St.
The Morris Thompson bazaar is part of something larger. The Downtown Fairbanks Winter Solstice Festival began in 2021, Alaska's News Source reported in 2024. Its founding partners included the Downtown Association of Fairbanks, the Fairbanks Economic Development Corporation, Borough Parks and Recreation, the Morris Thompson Center and Golden Heart Consulting. The festival's site lists this year's free festival for December 11–19, with holiday lights, a Winter Lights Walk, vendors, seasonal treats and family activities.
By the end of the festival the shopping has moved outdoors. On December 19, dog-sled rides run from noon to 4 p.m. at Griffin Park by the Antler Arch, and an ice-skating party follows from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Starter Block on Lacey Street.
If this season of Fairbanks bazaars has you thinking about a cabin or a piece of land somewhere in the Interior, Beloved Alaska Realty can walk you through a property with a Matterport tour and drone footage before you make the drive. Request a Virtual Tour or Local Consultation, and we'll start with what matters most to you about the place.
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