The Ten Thousand Villages Festival Sale is back!

save the date for November 7th and 8th for the return of this beloved shopping experience!

I’m so excited to share that the Ten Thousand Villages Festival Sale is returning to Ottawa at the Ottawa Mennonite Church. You may remember this sale as a yearl

If you’ve been a long time reader, you’ll know that I’ve shared about the Festival before. I loved shopping at the Ottawa Ten Thousand Villages locations when they were open. The Festival Sale became one of my kick-off holiday gift shopping events. I also got treats for the home (hot chocolate and stocking stuffers), gifts for my mother-in-law, mom, friends, and more.

There are still decorations all over my house from Ten Thousand Villages.

This reindeer container that we use for pistachios? A Christmas classic.

Fairtrade Shopping for the Holidays

Now, Ten Thousand Villages in Cobourg is teaming up with Bunyaad Rugs to return to the Ottawa Mennonite Church (who will have baked goods and borscht for sale on the Saturday).

At the sale, you’ll be able to shop for fair trade coffee, tea, spices, and items made by artisans from dozens of countries.

Save the date, plan to shop with intention and enjoy the return of this popular event!

Keep up to date and set a reminder on the Facebook event page!

I’m going to share the full press release with you because there’s so much great stuff in it:

Ten Thousand Villages was a fixture of Ottawa’s Westboro neighbourhood for more than 20 years. In January 2020, Ten Thousand Villages Canada announced its closure, and independently-operated stores needed to choose whether to continue or not. “In Ottawa, we were looking at a new lease on our space which would have increased our rent in addition to the uncertainty that the national organization’s closure was placing on our supply chain,” says Kathy Neufeld, a former assistant manager of the Ten Thousand Villages Ottawa store and one of the organizers of this year’s event. “We couldn’t in good conscience keep operating and hope it would work out.”

Ten Thousand Villages in Cobourg was one of a few independent stores to make a different choice. The store weathered the COVID pandemic and supply uncertainties and has continued to thrive in its small-town retail shop and at a growing number of off-site events. In 2022, the store hired a former Ottawa volunteer as a part-time assistant manager.

“Even in Cobourg, we knew that there was a great tradition of a seasonal sale at the Ottawa Mennonite Church, and we are eager to bring fair trade back to Ottawa for the weekend,” says Derrick Cunningham, manager of the Cobourg store.

In addition to craft and food products from Ten Thousand Villages, fair-trade rug organization Bunyaad will be at the sale with a selection of hand-knotted, fair-trade rugs. Since it was founded in the early 1960’s, Bunyaad rug-making supports 850 families in 100 communities in Pakistan. And the Mennonite Church will be hosting a baked-goods and borscht sale at the Church on Saturday.

WHAT: Fair trade holiday sale featuring crafts, food and rugs.
WHO: Ten Thousand Villages Cobourg and Bunyaad Rugs
WHERE: Ottawa Mennonite Church, 1830 Kilborn Avenue, Ottawa
WHEN: 3-8 pm Friday, November 7; 10 am-4 pm Saturday, November 8