OUR CORRESPONDENT
TURA:
The Mini Bazaar is returning to Shillong for the second time for two days on February 3 and 4. A pop-up event curated to specifically promote home-grown artisans, its 35th edition is to be held in Savio Hall, Laitumkhrah.
The theme for the event will be ‘Disco Fever’ to make it more appealing for both the vendors and the attendees.
The previous Shillong edition had 30 local entrepreneurs showcasing their business ventures, handcrafted creations and highlighted on exhibiting visual artistry such as digital prints, posters and canvas paintings. The event had a turnout of around 500 attendees with wide customer demographics. The core value of The Mini Bazaar being ‘Building Communities through Youth Participation’, the objective is to encourage and inspire budding business owners to stimulate a social change and bring forth positive impact while promoting ethical practices.
The Mini Bazaar will include new participants such as Minimal Essence (handmade accessories), Plant Parenthood (plants and gifting items), Knotty Thread (macrame art), Patel Woods (home décor), Bbree (organic skincare), The Midget (comics/visual art) and many more. The two-day exhibition will host around 25 local ventures which also include food and beverages.
The independent platform has completed 34 editions, particularly held monthly in Tura. It has also successfully managed to organise night market in Freemasons Brewworks, City Centre, Guwahati. The first ever pop-up was held on September 18, 2021, with a group of eight friends as a garage sale. Today, The Mini Bazaar family has grown to over 100 participants and a big group of loyal customers that continue to support the programme.
The Mini Bazaar hopes to extend the market to many different towns, cities and rural areas with the aim to have a wide access to artists of all backgrounds and strengthen the artisanal association. It has brought in a pop-up culture to Tura, Shillong and Guwahati-a concept that was not executed on a regular basis-and has remained consistent in nurturing an entrepreneurial ecosystem.