For two decades, stART on the Street was a one-day September festival, and in its later years it took over Park Avenue with about 275 artists. This year the organizers are back with a holiday market in the basement of the Mercantile Center downtown. It runs for eight days over two long weekends, Nov. 19–22 and Dec. 3–6.
That change in format affects the whole holiday season. Worcester's maker events used to have one big anchor in late summer. Now the city's handmade shopping runs from early November to the first Sunday in December, and it keeps building toward one crowded weekend.
From Main Street to Park Avenue
stART on the Street was founded in 2002 by a group of artists called Worcester Artists Really Trying, or WART. The idea started as a celebration of friendship and community. The festival began on Main Street and moved to Park Avenue in 2006, after a year off. Each year it featured about 275 artists, live performances on several stages, interactive demonstrations and food from local vendors.
In 2024, Creative Hub, the nonprofit that took over stART in 2022, announced that the 20th-anniversary festival would be the last. The Worcester Guardian reported that the announcement pointed to the growing difficulty of running an event that size. Recruiting enough dedicated volunteers was hard, and costs were significant. The announcement also said, "This was not an easy decision to make."
The final festival on Park Avenue was Sept. 15, 2024. What ended was a large one-day street festival that relied on volunteers. The people behind it stayed, and so did their interest in bringing makers and shoppers together. They just needed a different format.
Eight Days Under the Mercantile Center
The new event is called the Worcester Holiday Market. MassLive reported in September that it's a joint project of Pulse Magazine, the Worcester lifestyle and entertainment publication, and the nonprofit stART on the Street. It takes place in the Mercantile Center's basement. Julie Bowditch, the event's director of marketing and promotions, told MassLive the space can hold a few hundred people.
Tina Zlody, stART's co-director and co-founder, told MassLive the organization had wanted a multi-day holiday event for years but hadn't found a venue or partners. In a statement quoted by MassLive, she said: "Although we have sunset the annual street festival, we still wanted to participate in the success of special experiences that bring people together in the city we love."
Bowditch has also been specific about what the market is meant to be. "It's not a Christmas market. It's very intentionally just a holiday market," she told MassLive. "Shop for other people, you could shop for yourself." The vendor mix is broader than a pure crafts fair. Handmade and artisan makers are welcome, and organizers also asked for:
- Artists and designers
- Home and decor sellers
- Gourmet food items
- Wearables and hosting supplies
- Wellness products, seasonal items and specialty retail
There was plenty of interest from sellers. Bowditch told MassLive the market received more than 100 vendor applications in the two days after it was announced. That's more than a third of the roughly 275 artists the street festival hosted each year, and it came in within two days. Organizers also plan to cross-promote with the City of Worcester's Festival of Lights. Pulse Magazine and the market's Facebook page post updates on vendors and visiting details.
How the Rest of the Season Falls Around It
The Mercantile dates split November and December into two runs. Most of the city's other maker events land either between them or on top of the second one.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sun., Nov. 8 | Open House & Holiday Market, 10 a.m.–2 p.m., free | Rooted Acupuncture & Wholebeing, 218 Shrewsbury St., Suite 105B |
| Thu.–Sun., Nov. 19–22 | Worcester Holiday Market, first run | Mercantile Center, lower level |
| Sun., Nov. 22 | Market on Exchange Holiday Market, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. | Exchange Street |
| Fri.–Sun., Nov. 27–29 | 44th Holiday Festival of Crafts | Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Road |
| Thu.–Sun., Dec. 3–6 | Worcester Holiday Market, second run | Mercantile Center, lower level |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Kelley Square tree lighting, 3–5 p.m., lighting at 5 | Kelley Square |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Union Station Holiday Market, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. | Union Station, 2 Washington Square |
The Rooted Acupuncture open house on Shrewsbury Street is the first event of the season and features local vendors of handcrafted goods. The Market on Exchange holiday market falls on the last day of the Mercantile's first run, so shoppers can visit both downtown that Sunday.
The Worcester Center for Crafts keeps the gap between the two Mercantile runs busy. Its Holiday Festival of Crafts takes place every year on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving, when the Sagamore Road campus becomes what the Center calls a "European-style" market. This year is the 44th edition, more than twice as many as stART on the Street held. A third-party event listing shows hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, with $5 admission.
The First Weekend of December Fills Up
The Mercantile market's second run, Thursday, Dec. 3, through Sunday, Dec. 6, is the busiest stretch of the season.
The Kelley Square tree lighting, the yearly Canal District and Green Island ceremony, is set for Saturday, Dec. 5, from 3 to 5 p.m., with the lighting at 5. The next day, Sunday, Dec. 6, New England Open Markets fills Union Station with more than 100 makers, artists and artisanal food vendors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The organizer describes the setting as a Beaux-Arts landmark with twin towers, white marble and a stained-glass Grand Hall.
The city's Festival of Lights on Worcester Common is usually held in early December, according to MassLive. In 2025 it was on the first Friday of the month, Dec. 5, from 4:30 to 9 p.m., with the tree lighting at 6. The Mercantile market's plan to cross-promote with the festival puts the city's main tree-lighting event and the new market in the same downtown weekend. The Mercantile Center, Worcester Common, Union Station and Kelley Square are all close enough that one weekend's outings can be planned as a single route.
| Weekend | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Nov. 19–22 | First Mercantile run, plus Market on Exchange on Sunday |
| Nov. 27–29 | Worcester Center for Crafts' Holiday Festival of Crafts on Sagamore Road |
| Dec. 3–6 | Second Mercantile run, Kelley Square lighting on Saturday, Union Station market on Sunday |
For Makers, the Clock Is Already Running
Several of these events are still recruiting vendors. Union Station's application window closes Tuesday, Nov. 10. Booths are $250 for a standard 6-foot space and $450 for a double, and payment is due on acceptance. The organizer's vendor terms also ask exhibitors for a Massachusetts Tax ID number and link to the Department of Revenue registration page. This is general information, not legal or tax advice, so makers should check their own requirements with the Department of Revenue or a tax professional.
The year-round side of the city's maker scene is also active. Bri's Sweet Treats, which sells handcrafted artisan chocolates, marked five years in business with a ribbon-cutting on Oct. 1 at the Worcester Public Market, according to The Worcester Guardian. Briana Azier started the business in 2021, after she and her son, Cole, began making candy for relatives and friends in 2020.
The first Mercantile weekend opens Thursday, Nov. 19.
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