For a gift list built around things made by people who live here, the holiday craft markets in Cleveland are the place to shop. At these weekend markets the artists and small brands run their own tables, selling jewelry, prints, ceramics, oddities and small-batch food.
Most of them sit on the west side, in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, the Flats and Lakewood, with a few spread east to Lyndhurst and Chardon and south to Strongsville and Akron. The full holiday markets guide also covers German-style Christmas markets, holiday food shopping and the large ticketed shows.
Each of these markets sets its own schedule and several run for a single weekend, so confirm this season’s timing with the market before you plan a day around it.
Made locally
Maker markets for local gifts
Downtown / Gordon Square
Cleveland Bazaar Holiday Markets
Best for: The widest range of local makers
Cleveland Bazaar is the city’s longest-running handmade market, and its holiday editions move between locations such as the 5th Street Arcades downtown and 78th Street Studios on the west side. The tables hold local jewelry, prints, ceramics and small-batch food, sold by the people who made them.
Entry is free, and because the holiday market runs across several weekends, it is the easiest one to fit around other plans. Check which location a given weekend uses before you head out.
Gordon Square (Detroit Shoreway)
78th Street Studios Holiday Weekend
Best for: Buying art straight from the studio
78th Street Studios, in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood near Gordon Square, opens its studios and galleries for a holiday weekend of sales. You walk the building’s halls, step into working studios and buy directly from the artists, which makes this the best stop for original art and prints as gifts.
It is free, and the Cleveland Bazaar also sets up in the building, so a single visit can cover both.
The Flats (West Bank)
The Cleveland Market: Holiday Edition
Best for: A large selected lineup in the Flats
The Cleveland Market’s holiday edition fills Marigold, the event space at Tenk West Bank in the Flats, with a large lineup of local makers and food vendors. The organizers choose the vendors, so the room is put together with some care.
It runs for a single weekend, which makes it the one on this list most worth putting on the calendar as soon as the date is announced.
Lakewood (Birdtown)
Screw Factory Holiday Market
Best for: Last-minute handmade gifts in Lakewood
The Screw Factory on Athens Avenue, in Lakewood’s Birdtown area, holds its holiday market inside the old factory building, with vendors set up along the hallways and inside open artist studios. Entry is free.
It comes later in the season than most of the markets here, so it is a good stop when the list still has gaps. Walking the halls also gives you a look at where a number of Lakewood artists work.
Lakewood (Madison Ave)
Christkindlmarket at Mahall's
Best for: A maker weekend inside Mahall’s
Mahall’s, the bowling alley and music venue on Madison Avenue in Lakewood, hosts a German-market-themed maker weekend inside the building. It is free and indoors, and it is a short drive from the Screw Factory in Birdtown, so the two make an easy pairing for a Lakewood gift run when their weekends line up. Check Mahall’s schedule for the weekend it runs.
Strongsville
Oddmall: Chrishanukwanzmadan
Best for: Oddities and indie art
Oddmall’s holiday show brings indie artists and oddities vendors to the Best Western Plus on Royalton Road in Strongsville, with costumed Santas and Grinches walking the floor. Entry is free.
Go here for odd and unusual gifts from independent artists, and for a maker market that is convenient to the southwest suburbs. People who go tend to come away happy with it.
Lyndhurst (Legacy Village)
Locally Spruced Holiday Market
Best for: An east side market with Santa and live music
At Legacy Village in Lyndhurst, the Locally Spruced shop runs a weekend market of Ohio makers with Santa visits and live music. The market itself is free, and a ticketed preview night opens the weekend for anyone who wants an early look.
It is the closest maker market on this list for east side shoppers, and the rest of Legacy Village is right there if the gift list includes regular stores too.
Chardon
Chardon Holiday Market
Best for: An outdoor market of wooden huts
Chardon Square in Geauga County fills with wooden huts for a European-style market that runs over several weekends, and the lineup of makers changes each weekend, so a second trip turns up different vendors. The market opens with the square’s tree lighting.
The stalls are outside on the square, so dress for the weather and plan to browse on foot.
Downtown Akron
Akron Bazaar Holiday Market
Best for: Handmade shopping south of the city
The Akron edition of the Cleveland Bazaar sets up at Summit Artspace in downtown Akron, with handmade goods from local artists and small brands. It is free and indoors, and it suits anyone living in Summit County or already heading south toward Akron. Shoppers who go speak well of it.
Plan a day
A west side maker market route
The tightest cluster of maker markets is on the west side. 78th Street Studios in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, the Screw Factory on Athens Avenue in Birdtown and Mahall’s on Madison Avenue are all a short drive apart, and Lakewood borders Cleveland directly to the west. The Cleveland Market at Tenk West Bank in the Flats is a quick hop back toward downtown. Each runs on its own schedule, so check them first and build the route around whichever ones share a weekend.
On the east side, Legacy Village in Lyndhurst and Chardon Square in Geauga County make a similar pairing, one indoors and one outdoors.
Other kinds of holiday shopping
If you want a big show or food gifts instead
Some holiday shopping is better done at scale. The Cleveland Christmas Connection is a large ticketed show inside the I-X Center near Cleveland Hopkins Airport, with gifts, decor and food items under one roof. A Bavarian Christkindlmarkt at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Middleburg Heights brings wooden booths, crafters, Bavarian food and warm drinks outdoors, and it is also ticketed.
Both sit alongside the maker markets in the full list of holiday markets near Cleveland, so you can compare them on the map before you pick a weekend.
Good to know
Questions before you go.
Is there a maker market downtown during the holidays?
Yes. WinterLand CLE, downtown’s holiday kickoff around Public Square, includes a maker market in the 5th Street Arcades. The tree lighting and decorations are free, and the skating is ticketed.
Where should I go for holiday food gifts?
The West Side Market in Ohio City becomes a holiday food shopping stop, with cookies, meats, cheeses and baked goods at the stands, plus carolers and a gingerbread display.
Is the Hudson Christkindlmarkt a maker market?
It is an outdoor German-style Christmas market around First and Main in downtown Hudson, run by the town’s sister-city group with Landsberg, Germany. It is free, and the Main Street shops are right there afterward.
Every market in one place
See every holiday market near Cleveland
The full guide maps the maker markets alongside German-style Christmas markets, holiday food shopping and the large holiday shows, with local details for each one.