Rotorua community enjoys plenty of choice on offer at The Arts Village Summer Festival and Artisan Fair

People had the opportunity to shop for Christmas or even buy themselves a well-deserved gift while enjoying a range of entertainment at a new summer event.

The Arts Village Summer Festival and Artisan Fair was held last Saturday at The Arts Village.

The Arts Village director Mary-Beth Acres says the event went well.

"I'm so proud of our team who did a great job and really thankful for all the support we had from volunteers, stallholders, musicians, and everyone who came along."

She says it is hard to say how many people went through the fair, but they know it was more than 1000.

"The art activity was full all day, lots of people were able to get Christmas shopping done and enjoy performers and ambiance - and the weather was amazing."

She says the performers were a big highlight for her.

"I also really enjoyed the wide range of what was on offer. It was great to see such a lot of variety in artist-run stalls."

Mary-Beth says The Arts Village had amazing feedback, with members of the public particularly loving both the range of stallholders and the range of performances.

"Most stallholders we have spoken to had a great day with sales.

"One of our stallholders I spoke to had their busiest market day ever and another sold twice their target - so that's great to hear.

She says that if The Arts Village runs this event again they will look at how they target even more people to come over and do their Christmas shopping while supporting local artists and makers.

"The jury is out - this is really funding dependant for us and while the market was a great event we have to weigh up how this fits into our planning and resources for next year.

"We have had lots of requests already for it to become an annual event, but as a small non-profit we have a lot of things to consider - watch this space."

Mary-Beth says a big thank you to the funders of this year's event - Rotorua Lakes Council, Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust, and New Zealand Community Trust.