Let’s shop Canadian handmade! Signatures Originals Spring Craft Sale returns to the EY Centre April 13 to 16, 2023. This uniquely Canadian handmade marketplace features over 150 artists, artisans, makers, and designers from coast-to-coast. For over 30 years, the show has been the premier spring shopping event in Ottawa – an annual tradition where visitors can meet passionate creators in person, hear their stories, and feel their works first-hand.
In the late 1970s, glass blower John Ladouceur and jeweller Casey Sadaka saw an opportunity to make unique handmade Canadian goods more accessible for creators and the public. In 1980, they founded Signatures to provide quality marketplaces where artisans and buyers could come together in a shared love of the handmade. The first-ever Signatures show premiered at the Ottawa Congress Centre in 1983 featuring 125 artisans. The following year Signatures debuted in Toronto at the brand-new Metro Toronto Convention Centre. With the phenomenal success of these events, Signatures has become Canada’s largest and most experienced producer of handmade shows: producing, promoting and managing 20 events each year in 13 cities across the country!
Right here in Ottawa from April 13 to 16, guests can shop thousands of expertly curated products in home décor, fashion, jewellery, visual art, children’s clothing, toys, eco-friendly body care, artisanal food items, and many more unique works that are made consciously and with love. Here are some of our favourites:
Niagara-based Basket Case offers bohemian-style fabric-covered rope-coiled baskets made from new & recycled fabrics, authentic leather and upcycled harness leather handles. The colourful baskets suit any occasion—to adorn your home or as storage!
Basket Case. Photo provided.
Kid’s Stuff [Trucs d’enfants] offers gender-neutral and grow-with-me clothing for children from 0 to 8 years. All the clothes are made in Montreal by founder and designer Mary-Jo using environmentally-friendly fabrics. The modern, urban & timeless styles along with their values advocating gender equality are for the new generation of parents who want to instill values of ecology, sustainability and equality in their children.
Kid’s Stuff (Trucs D’Enfants). Photo provided.
Wild Muskoka Botanicals is a producer of artisanal wild foods and cocktail mixers, connecting people to the wild flavours, medicine, and teachings from the plants of Muskoka and beyond. Ingredients are locally foraged in a sustainable manner, and then hand-produced on a small scale to provide high-quality products made with ecological integrity.
Wild Muskoka. Photo provided.
2023 Special Features
- Half Price Weekday Admission: 50% off after 5 pm on Thursday & Friday
- Sip + Shop with Dunrobin Distilleries! Acclaimed for its single-malt whiskey, Earl Grey gin and other fine spirits using traditional farm-to-table ingredients, award-winning Dunrobin Distilleries will be selling and offering samples at their booth throughout all four days of the show. They will also be shaking “Originals” cocktails at the bar during Friday night’s Sip + Shop! We are excited to see this local craft distillery at this event!
- Special promo for Sip + Shop on Friday, April 14th after 5pm – half-price admission, draws every 30 minutes for gift certificates to shop at the show. Ticket price includes one cocktail* from Dunrobin Distilleries (*certain conditions apply)!
- Spotlight on Indigenous artisans! The incredible work of Indigenous artisans will be on display at Signatures Originals’ first-ever Indigenous Showcase produced in partnership with Indigenous Experiences, operators of Mādahòkì Farm and producers of the annual Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival. Authentic works will be available along with demos and take-home craft kits. Mādahòkì (Share the Land) is a working farm and gathering place in Ottawa’s West end that plays host to seasonal festivals and events as well as corporate and school groups so visitors can learn about and experience the authentic Indigenous culture. Signatures Shows is proud to host and help heighten awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion by showcasing the works of Indigenous artisans.
Hours
- Thursday, April 13 & Friday April 14 – 10am to 9pm
- Saturday, April 15 – 10am to 6pm
- Sunday, April 16 – 10am to 5pm
Location: EY Centre, Hall 3, 4899 Uplands Drive, Ottawa, ON
Tickets: Adults: $8 | Ages 12 and under: Free | 50% off after 5 pm on Thurs & Fri
Keep an eye on Apt613 Instagram for a chance to score some free tickets!
Online tickets are available here or onsite at the box office, subject to availability.
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