Are you looking for really nice and original presents for the people who matter to you? Then you could do worse than visit the Craft Fairs that Amata will be holding in Altea (3, 4 and 5 December) and Jávea (6, 7 and 8 December). Real craft fairs run by real craft people who sell only what they make themselves. They can even make something specially for you, if you can’t find what you are looking for!
Altea: 3-5 December
Altea is known as a very artistic town with lots of resident artists and a really lovely old town, but the fair will be held in the modern part of town, in front of the Town Hall (parallel to the main road N332 but 100 yards inland).
Some 30 craft people will gather there with all sorts of original work. Pottery, glasswork, wooden and soft toys, leather, design jewelry and all the other special stuff visitors to an Amata fair have come to expect. And of course the typical delecacies of Christmas time, cheeses and sausages and even a stall with sweet and savoury pancakes.
For the kids there will be workshops, soap bubble shows, table games and a small Ferris wheel. On Satuday at 1 o’clock the choir of U3A Calpe will come and sing Christmas carols and at 6:30 pm that same day there will be a puppet show to present a new children’s book (“Animalada”, in Spanish). Every day a South-American guitarist will enliven the fair with well known songs.
The fair starts on Friday the 3rd of December at 6 pm and lasts till Sunday evening. Opening times from 11 am till 9 pm (the fair doesn’t close at midday); on Sunday they will close a bit earlier. And parking should not be a problem, because there is a big underground parking under the square.
Jávea Port: 6-8 December
The next day of the same long weekend (both the 6th and the 8th of December are Bank Holidays in Spain!) Amata will be in the Port of Jávea. In a beautiful setting on the sea side promenade some twenty stalls will be set up around an enormous Christmas tree.
Every stall is offering something different and, as in Altea, all participants are real craft people, who bring their tools along so they can make small changes or personalize a chosen item, and can even accept special orders if you don’t find what you are looking for. Some artisans will be at work in their stalls, so you can see with how much love and patience every item is made.
This fair opens on the Monday morning, 6 December, and the opening times for the three days are from 11 am continuously till 8 pm, although on Wednesday they close a bit earlier
General information about the fairs that Amata organises you can find on the Amata web site (www.amata.es – also in English), or you can ring 639 979 678 and talk – in English – to Elvira. Photographs of the last fairs (in 2019!) you´ll find at http://www.amata.es/Altea-2019.html and http://www.amata.es/JaveaDiciembre-2019.html. Last minute changes (e.g. in case of bad weather) will be anounced in Facebook and Instagram (Amigos de Amata).
Come to the fair and see for yourself! And if you have other plans or live too far away, you can have a look at the virtual craft village http://www.puebloartesano.es, created by Amata so you can see the artisans busy in their workshops, buy their work in shops on line or virtual fairs and even follow small tutorials, at any moment and wherever you live!
