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The bad news...
Sadly, we have made the incredibly difficult decision to cancel Christmas Encraftment 2021. Please understand that we didn’t come to this decision lightly and have been grappling with what to do and looking at possible alternatives for weeks now. However certain things became clear:
The health and welfare of our stallholders and our shopping customers must come first. We would be devastated if Encraftment became a "spreader event" and caused anyone to become ill or worse.
There is a lot of uncertainty around what will happen when the Delta variant makes it to the South Island. We so far have had little indication from the Government what restrictions there might be or plans for this scenario, so we have had to look to the measures Auckland faces and think that we would have to go into Level 3, or an orange or red traffic light, in which case we would have to cancel the market anyway.
We know many customers will be disappointed, but as organisers who have to pay for venue hire, advertising, other overheads, our time, and have to predict how many people will be confident turning up in the current COVID climate we have to make the best decision for everyone. We have done the best we can in the circumstances.
The good news...
You can still shop local and support our stallholders. We have a Stallholder Directory on our website with links to the online shops or social media of your favourite makers. What’s more, now is a great time to shop for your Christmas gifts - all from the comfort of home!
Many of our stallholders are on felt.co.nz - New Zealand’s online marketplace for handmade. We are working with Felt to bring you an Encraftment Collection where you can see many items from our stallholders and link directly to their Felt shops. We will let you know when it’s up and running.
Planning will get underway in the New Year for Winter Encraftment 2022. We will be back!
Stay safe, be kind.
Nga mihi,
The Encraftment Team - Olivia, Lee, Helen and Bronwyn
