November 2, 2023 By Carol Britton Meyer
Two favorite annual events — the Hingham Holiday Fair and the St. John’s Holiday Boutique — both happening on Sat., Nov. 18 — are sure to get shoppers into the holiday spirit.
Holiday Boutique hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Hingham Holiday Fair hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., leaving plenty of time for leisurely shopping at both events — for holiday gifts for everyone on your list as well as decorating ideas for every room in your home.
St. John’s Holiday Boutique will take place at 172 Main St. and the Hingham Holiday Fair at Hingham High School.
The Hingham Holiday Fair, now in its 15th year, will feature more than 90 creative vendors — including some new ones — along with HHS student groups. Fresh holiday wreaths will be sold outside near the front entrance this year.
Various vendors and groups are spread out over the gym, cafeteria, lobby, and main hallway.
There will also be food trucks at the front of the school selling hot beverages and hot and cold sandwiches for the enjoyment of hungry shoppers.
Returning this year, a festive journey on a golf cart from the far parking lot for those who prefer not to walk.
In keeping with tradition, large raffle baskets will include items donated by vendors and student groups. “A generous portion of the proceeds from the event and from the wreath sales are donated to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through the Pan-Mass Challenge,” event organizer Lisa Lavieri told the Hingham Anchor. A portion of the wreath proceeds benefits the HHS senior class.
Unique gifts
The fair will feature a wide variety of unique holiday and everyday gifts, including original cards, prints and calendars, hand-crafted wooden nesting dolls, “elegantly embellished” tableware, artisan-made clothing and linens with a coastal flair, upcycled cashmere scarves and lined mittens, a pop-up book shop, women’s and girls’ active wear, handmade yarn-crafted items, miniature Christmas trees and ornaments, hand-built, wheel-thrown functional pottery, and holiday planters with greens.
Other offerings will include vintage-inspired ornaments, handmade eco-luxury candles and organic skinware, unique whimsical wearables and accessories, small wood-crafted lawn reindeer and sleighs, Atlantic white cedar door mats, goat-milk soaps, sea-glass barrettes, jewelry and accessories, golf polos, nautically-inspired 14K gold jewelry, silhouettes, handmade chocolates and drinking chocolate, gourmet toffees sold in glass jars, and more.
HHS students, representing many clubs, groups, and sports teams, will sell everything from bracelets, t-shirts, and stadium cushions to beeswax lip balm, candles, and soap, hoodies and other apparel, and dog collars — many with a Hingham theme.
Back by popular demand — fresh holiday wreaths through DeVaughn’s Ridge. (See the website link below for ordering information.) Wreaths will be available for pick-up on the day of the fair or shoppers may purchase them there.
“The event is a festive shopping experience from the far parking lot through the fresh wreaths and greens at the entrance, raffle room, and 90 vendor booths bursting with holiday decor and gifts for everyone,” Lavieri said.
Admission is $5, which includes a raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets are available for purchase.
St. John’s Holiday Boutique
The St. John’s Holiday Boutique is known by many shoppers as “an unsurpassed holiday shopping experience” that residents of Hingham and beyond wouldn’t miss every holiday season.
The event features a “curated selection of amazing vendors” offering everything from sweet treats and party supplies to athleisure wear and fine jewelry, with multiple full shopping halls.
Vendors will include Beachcomber Designs, Beauty & Main, Bridier Baubles, Claire’s Clothesline, Cohasset Party Supply, Cushette, Dean’s Sweets, DoubleMint Home, Falk Jewelry, GettiGear, Kindred, Lisa Berkin Designs, No Wake, Olive Tree Books, Robin Ross Art, Sommer’s Bounty, Sunny Window, Three Buoys & a Mermaid, Vermarje Tea Co., and Wooden Toy Junction. The cafe will offer coffee, tea, lunch items, and sweet treats.
The atmosphere of the boutique, which is a juried show, has been described as “multi-sensory and visually beautiful, with colorful holiday decorations everywhere.”
It takes more than 250 volunteers to make the Holiday Boutique “magic” happen, with contributions from the entire St. John’s community.
Santa will make a return visit this year from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is looking forward to posing for photos with happy children whispering their holiday wishes in his ear.
Now entering its 23nd year, the Boutique takes place the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The Friday eveningbefore features a special cocktail party for parishioners and their guests to preview the boutique’s offerings and to enjoy cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and dessert and a raffle and live auction.
Each year, the Boutique donates 100% of the door proceeds from donations to the Cohasset Appalachia Service Project, a home-building ministry serving some of the poorest people in our country. A number of St. John’s parishioners plan and attend this trip each year.
For further details, including vendor information, visit http://www.hinghamholidayfair.com and https://www.stjohns-hingham.org/holiday-boutique as well as Facebook and Instagram. Both websites will be updated with further details as the day of the events approaches