Hastings mid-winter Christmas Market piques interest

The indoor Hastings Mid-Winter Christmas Market will be held at the Hastings Sports Centre on Saturday July 9. Photo / Warren Buckland

The Hastings Mid-Winter Christmas Market is an indoor market fundraising event for Koryo Taekwondo.

On July 9, a free entry market will be held inside Hastings Sports Centre, holding up to 50 stalls indoors.

Local craftspeople and small businesses have paid for a stall spot in the stadium, buying up all 50 spots weeks before the event.

Koryo students came up with the idea to fundraise after seeing that Camille, Koryo Taekwondo's owner, often subsidised costs herself.

Camille provides various programmes to groups who typically struggle to afford them, so they can continue learning Taekwondo.

Starting her Taekwondo journey 39 years ago, Camille is now a 5th Dan Black Belt and has owned her own Dojang for nearly 20 years.

Fundraising has seen Koryo continue to teach classes for school holiday programmes for youth, people with disabilities, and RSE workers and provide self-defence classes.

In the past, fundraising has also helped subsidise student costs to attend tournaments.

The inaugural Hastings Mid-Winter Christmas Market organising committee have been blown away by the response from local craftspeople and small businesses wanting to participate.

Organising committee member Dianne Bainbridge-Quate said the group thought they were being ambitious in booking the Hastings Sports Stadium with a capacity for 50 stalls.

However, the group had sold all stall spaces weeks before the market.

The group believes there is a high demand from local small businesses and craftspeople needing somewhere to sell their wares.

"After our Mahora Market earlier in the year we knew there was still a huge demand for markets post-Covid", Bainbridge-Quate said.

Organisers have said "50 Stalls of Fabulousness" Mid-Winter Christmas Market will be a must-do on the calendar.

Many local businesses and craftspeople will be selling handcrafted and handmade items, crafts artisan goods, repurposed and up-cycled items, and vintage, quality second-hand products.

There may even be some Art Deco accessories and treasures for those preparing for winter Art Deco events.

Some of everyone's favourite foodie caravans and plants will also be available outdoors.

Koryo Taekwondo along with selling stall spaces will also be fundraising through other activities and raffles inside the market.

Join the Hastings Indoor Market Facebook group to get updates on the Hastings Mid-Winter Christmas Market.