Best NYC Holiday Markets for Hand-Made Gifts by Local Artisans

The holidays mean shopping, and NYC is sprouting European-style holiday markets everywhere.

Forget online shopping. Make your list, check it twice, and head for one of these markets to find one-of-a-kind items, many handmade by local NYC artisans, and others made elsewhere in New York State.

Jump start your holiday shopping here, and also at temporary pop-up holiday markets, which are mostly on weekends. 

Most are open daily, but some are only on weekends.  Some close before Christmas Day, others stay open through early January.

Markets open through Christmas Eve close early that day, generally by 4pm or 5pm.

Winter Village at Bryant Park

This popular European-style open-air market offers more than 150 holiday shops, where you’ll have no issue finding gifts for everyone on your list.

When you get hungry, visit The Lodge by Urbanspace, the Winter Village’s rinkside bar and food hall.

Besides an outdoor beer garden and holiday-themed cocktail bar, you’ll find pop-ups of several NYC restaurants, plus year-round locations for sweets favorite Wafels & Dinges.

• Open daily through Jan. 5th
• Monday – Friday: 11am-8pm, Saturday & Sunday: 10am-8pm

Image: GCT

Grand Central Holiday Fair

One of the longest-running indoor holiday markets in NYC takes over Grand Central Terminal’s soaring Vanderbilt Hall once again, with a focus on vendors offering American-made and handmade products with locally sourced materials, and those using a socially conscious business model. 

There are some 40 stalls selling artwork, clothing, accessories, toys, and home goods.

The location makes this market an easy shopping stop for commuters, and those looking to refuel can stop for a snack or meal at the Grand Central Market, Great Northern Food Hall or subterranean dining concourse.

Bonus - FREE gift wrapping with proof of purchase from a GCT vendor.

• Open daily, November 18–December 24
  

Union Square Holiday Market

Another European-style outdoor holiday market, focusing on locally crafted gifts including home goods, gourmet food and drinks, winter accessories, artwork, and skin care products.

New this year is live music and a kids’ arts studio for family-friendly shopping breaks.

• Open daily through December 24

Grand Holiday Bazaar

One of NYC’s largest weekly flea and crafts markets year-round, with vendors both outside and inside, all 150 independent vendors at NYC Grand Bazaar focus on the holidays through the end of the year, with fashion items, collectibles, art, jewelry and decor, including antiques. 

• Sundays only, through Sunday, Dec. 22
• 100 W 77th St, Upper West Side
  

FAD Holiday Market

FAD stands for fashion, art, design.  It’s a pop-up market of as many as 100 local artisans that pops up in various locations throughout the year, including at Governors Island.

Weekends in December the local vendors of FAD Market are at two locations in Brooklyn within a few blocks of one another in the BoCoCa neighborhood (Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and Carroll Gardens)

Taking place across two locations, within a short walking distance from one another, at The Invisible Dog Art Center on Bergen Street in Boerum Hill and St. Paul’s Church on Court Street in Cobble Hill — on the first three weekends of December.

• 11aam to 6m, Dec. 4/5, Dec. 11/13=2, Dec. 18/19
• St. Paul’s Church, 190 Court St. and The Invisible Dog, 51 Bergen St., both Brooklyn

Columbus Circle Holiday Market

More than 100 vendors cluster on the plaza around the entrance to Central Park at Columbus Circle, offering a mix of art, jewelry, home goods and baked treats.

There’s even a market concierge to help you navigate the aisles and find the vendor selling just the thing you are hoping to find.

• Open daily through December 24

This list of Holiday Markets was published originally in 2016 and is updated annually, including for 2021.