'Grown to this big event': Yorkton celebrates 45 years of Sunflower Art & Craft Market

Yorkton Arts Council (YAC) members Abanti Banerjee and Tanya Vermette are having fun preparing for this year’s Sunflower Art & Craft Market. (Sierra D'Souza Butts / CTV News)

Yorkton, Sask. — Yorkton’s Sunflower Art and Craft Market is returning for another year this weekend.

Blooming for 45 years strong, the event consists of more than 100 vendors from across Canada offering a wide range of homemade items.

"We have old exhibitors who have been coming here for 30 years, and you also have new people who have heard about us who say, ‘Let's go to sunflower,’” said Abanti Banerjee, office administrator of Yorkton Arts Council (YAC).

Due to its success of bringing in over 3,000 people to the city, YAC’s president said the market takes up three different rooms at the Gallagher Centre.

“The Sunflower Art and Craft Market started in 1979 outside on the lawn of Victoria School and has grown to this big event every weekend after the long weekend at the Gallagher Centre in Yorkton,” explained market president Tanya Vermette.

Aside from promoting different vendors unique arts and crafts, Vermette said the event helps support the arts council financially.

“Everyone here is the creators of their own product, be it food, clothing, jewelry, photography, woodworking, and other stuff,” Vermette said.

"This is our big fundraiser for the Yorkton Arts Council (YAC). This is how we keep our office doors open and how we present seven concerts coming up this year, story slam and culture days event. This is how we keep the doors open and the lights off."

This year, the market consists of vendors from Yorkton, Melville, Langenburg, and Regina, as well as people from outside the province specifically from Manitoba and Alberta.

One vendor from Yorkton is selling Christmas shaped trees made out of old wooden doors.

"I'm selling Christmas trees that are truly vintage. They are old doors, that I have make shifted into a tree,” said Jodie Rusnak, pointing to her booth of crafts.

“The beauty of them is they are all unique. Each tree has its own little story on where it came from, as well as the hardware adds a little extra pizazz.”

Rusnak told CTV News she has been going to the market for years and that this is her first time attending as a vendor.

“I've always been a crafter, so I just wanted to try it for year one, this year, and see if it brings me as much excitement as it does as a patron,” she said.

Another vendor who came from Tofield, Alta. said the sunflower market helps promote different lines of crafts including his family’s brand: Beary Berry Honey.

"What we sell is a lot of different things made with honey,” said Sam Thiessen.

“We do barbecue sauces, we do vinaigrettes for salads, we do some tea, honeys where we've blended.

“We came to sunflower because it's a great little market. A lot of people come out. Yorkton is a great community, so we love coming out here.”

The market will open Friday at 5 p.m. and run until Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.