Goodland Holiday Bazaar Kicks Off the Holiday Season

With the help of local vendors and volunteers, the Margood Harbor Park hosted the Goodland 13th annual Holiday Bazaar on November 12th and 13th, sponsored by the Goodland Civic Association and Collier County Parks and Recreation. The vibrant holiday celebration featured various art and handmade goods in addition to Holiday Music, Food, Baked Goods, Golf Cart Shuttles, Free Admission, and Christmas carols sung on the Margood stage by the Marco Island Academy of Rock. 

The Margood Harbor Park is a perfect location for the event as it offers plenty of room for sellers to set up shop around the concrete walkways and display their goods in the sunshine. The park also has a playground, an outdoor pavilion, and the History and Community Center where refreshments and air conditioning were available to the Holiday Bazaar’s organizers and guests.

Vendors had their tents set up on both Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Volunteers and sellers offered a variety of handmade crafts and artworks including paintings, photography, ceramics, mixed media, shell crafts, jewelry, holiday ornaments, wood puzzles, homemade bath and body products, crafts for kids, and other Goodland merchandise. There is definitely something for everyone to enjoy and even contribute to.

Goodland’s dense population and tight-knit community make it a popular destination for tourists and people in the area to gather and have fun. One of the event organizers, Tara O’Neill, shares that the event has been a huge success for thirteen years, generating funds for the Goodland Civic Association and bringing in all different types of people from Goodland and the area to share their talents. O’Neill also discussed Goodland Harbor’s 11th Annual Arts and Music Festival coming up on March 11th and 12th which is “geared more towards the fine arts”. 

On Sunday from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM, the Holiday Bazaar had the Marco Island Academy of Rock Band perform on the Margood stage and sang a variety of Christmas carols and holiday tunes. The band performed upbeat songs as well as some slower songs like Silent Night. Shane Totten, the band’s director and Marco Island Academy’s art teacher, performs with MIA students Lexi Smith, Arlette Villea-Hernández, Madison Good, and Aidan King, as well as Lely student, Zane McCarty.

The Holiday Bazaar is definitely one of the best festivities to kick off the holidays and get people into the holiday spirit. The combination of music, arts and crafts, food, and the Goodland community, brings people together to have lighthearted holiday fun.