Saturday is shaping up to be one of the better small shopping days on the East Bay calendar. Linden Place opens its historic grounds at 500 Hope Street in Bristol for the annual Autumn Artisan Market, and the rule that makes it worth the drive is a simple one: everything on the tables is handmade.
The lineup leans local and genuinely varied. Past markets have brought together potters, hand dyers and knitters, jewelers, illustrators and bookmakers, plus the edible end of things with chocolate, hot sauce, honey and lavender. Names from last year’s market included Sean Alex Pottery, Blue Dog Natural Dye House, Ginkgo Knits, Aura’s Chocolate Bar, 13 Stars Hot Sauce and Water Way Lavender Farm, which gives a fair sense of the range.
It is also the right time of year for it. This is the window where holiday shopping stops feeling like a chore and starts feeling like a morning out, and a market on mansion grounds in November does that better than a parking lot ever will. Go early if you want first pick of the one-of-a-kind pieces, since most of these makers are working in very small batches.
If You Go
- When: Saturday, November 7 (rain date Sunday, November 8)
- Where: Linden Place, 500 Hope Street, Bristol, RI 02809
- Contact: (401) 253-0390
- Good to know: all items are handmade, and the market is held on the mansion grounds
For The Makers On Our List
Linden Place accepts artisan vendor applications on a rolling basis, by mail or online, with applicants notified of their status within ten business days. Worth bookmarking if you have been meaning to take your work to market.
