This is a very popular holiday market that happens annually at the Richmond Raceway. There is also a market in the spring, but I usually go to the winter market to get some holiday shopping done. There are a wide variety of vendors - hundreds of businesses fill the exhibit halls. Clothing, specialty food and beverages, jewelry, artwork, crafts, toys, home decor, and more. You can usually find something unique for yourself or others. It takes at least two hours to visit all of the vendors, but there are several areas with benches and chairs if you need to take a break. There are also a few vendors selling lemonade and snacks to eat while you wander. Each vendor is so different, but they were all friendly and eager to help. read more

Bizarre Bazaar - Arts & Crafts Near Me - Richmond, Virginia

This is the best show for kicking off the Holiday Season. The decor, staff, music, shopping, food and the overall atmosphere is just what you need to get in the Holiday Spirit. You will leave with one of a kind treasures and sore feet! Lots of walking but its worth it...you dont want to miss a thing! read more

Rhonda D, your review is troublesome. To rate an entire event on one vendor's interaction with you is grossly unfair. You said that "they" needed to teach "your vendors" some manners. I don't know why you think the event is responsible for each individual vendors reactions is relevant. I think you are the one who needs some manners and an understanding of what reviews of an event are all about. Reviewing a vendor on an event site is just not right. The word in my mind is "Karen." read more

We went this morning. Got there around 10:30 and as soon as we walked in it's literally pandemonium. You can't stop to look at anything because the aisle any way you turn is full. But you do have the clueless who do stop in the aisle regardless of the people behind them. Don't forget the baby strollers. They don't get in the either. Tickets should be limited to the amount of people who look around without wishing they didn't come in the first place. This is during a weekday. Have fun Saturday and Sunday! read more

Vendors Beware! This show use to be great to vend at. My vending business is my bread and butter and I have two younger kids. They were a family friendly group that took care of their vendors. No longer the case. One of the workers lied on my childrens behavior and when I tried to address it, I was told that children were not permitted at the show. I was also pretty much told to find another show to vend at. This show does not support families! Their only focus is their pockets and the show is suffering because of it. I won't return to vend this show. I'm sure the cost of a booth there will be gladly accepted at a show that supports businesses and their families. read more

We usually plan to go Bizarre Bazaar twice a year once in the spring and once in the winter. I only gave this event three stars because even though we plan to go every year I always leave the event exhausted, frustrated, and burnt out! The event is absolutely huge - three warehouses long and hundreds of booths! It is always ridiculous crowded and hard to move. They line the rooms with booths on the outside as well as the inside making the event quite chaotic. They usually host this event from Thurs-Sunday and I haven't found a time to go that isn't crazy busy! I will definitely be back but I really wish there was a better way for the crowd to move. Expect to do lots of walking, expect to do lots of standing, and expect to do lots of waiting! read more

Only 4 stars because of a rude vendor. love the place but some of the shop owners are extremely rude. One lady that sold license plate bird houses and stars kept trying to argue with me that the screws she uses to put the houses together are made in the u.s.a. and when I tried correcting her she told me I was uneducated and needed to do research. Please teach your vendors some manners. Her items were also very overpriced. I did not have any issues with any of the other vendors. Thank you for having a great show. read more

I attended this event with my sister on 12/3/22 around 1:30pm. I attended last year and was surprised how little there were of booths that displayed Christmas decor. This year was the same. There were so many booths that displayed only jewelry. I do like jewelry, but it was just too much. The vendors that used to display Christmas decor were not there. I just don't know why there were so many jewelry vendors. If you love jewelry, then this is the place to be. If not, If you live in the Richmond, Va. area, I would suggest that you visit Be Charmed, or Lazy Daisy. Be Charmed has two locations in the Richmond area and Lazy Daisy has multiple locations. Local small businesses rent space to display their products. There is a lot of Christmas decor there. read more

This needs to be said. Yearly this events draws hundreds of people , however it will be appropriated if a person just had surgery, can't walk, hip replacement, or in any pain, shape or form to please stay home. The entitlement to open and closer parking is overwhelming. Especially redirecting yourself to which may can harm or injury to any person. ADA reserved spaces and overflow are purposely meant for what's it's specified for. Complying to simple operation standards and procedures can make everyone experience more pleasant and safe for all attendees, staff, vendors etc. Just be smart, safe, and remember where you park! read more

My sister and I went this evening and we were really disappointed. Past shows have been pretty cool, but tonight it looked like The Dollar Tree meets Wish. Booth after booth if nothing but junk from China dominated the show. Not much was original, or interesting or worth buying. read more

Christmas-a-polooza is an understatement. The annual Bizarre Bazaar is an incredible collection of craft and gift vendors from up and down the east coast. From clothes, to specialty foods, to hand-made just about anything, there is something here for everyone when doing some Christmas shopping. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes and bring your own shopping bag as you tour three buildings chock full of holiday goodies. But this event has gotten so wildly popular, the weekends have gotten too crowded to see much of anything. Next year, I will take off from work and go during the week! read more

Just another rerun of the same old gaudy jewelry, Christmas decorations, and spices/sauces. Nothing new and unique. Rows are too close together and everything is crowded. read more

If you're a shop-a-holic, or if you love flea markets and art festivals, this should be on your annual calendar. It's kind of a combination of all three things. I like buying handcrafted jewelry and pottery from local artisans and always find great stuff here. There are two big shows, one in early December with tons of holiday stuff and one in the spring with (you guessed it) lots of bunnies and garden stuff. The shows are held at RIR (the raceway) and they're huge, so wear comfortable shoes, bring your water bottle, and also something to haul your loot in. I have one of those rolling shopping carts from my New York grocery shopping days. You do have to pay an admission fee to get in, but for $1 you can get a re-entry pass to go back on the next day. I love that on their website it says they have three loaner wheelchairs (woo hoo!) , so if you need to sit while you shop, I recommend BYOW (bring your own wheelchair). read more

The Bizarre Bazaar is a wonderful Christmas show to go to! It provides a unique shopping opportunity where nonprofit organizations and charities can raise funds for their worthy causes. There are many things to be purchased at this event, from all sorts of crafts to fine foods. This event has been going on since 1975! There are four exhibition buildings that house over 475 exhibitors, both regional and national. What's cool about the Bizarre Bazaar is that the holiday shopping helps raise over $75,000 for more than 35 different non-profit organizations around Richmond. They also host VCU Massey Cancer Center's Opening Night Annual Shopping Spree. Over a half a million dollars have been raised for Massey over the past 11 years. All for a good cause! The Massey Opening Night Shopping Spree is held on Wednesday, the day before the Bizarre Bizaar is opened to the general public. For the first event at 5pm, the Merry Massey Patron level, tickets are $100. For the second event at 6pm, the Happy Holly Patron level, tickets are $40. At the Merry Massey Patron event, there are heavy Hors d'oeuvres available, from lobster cheesecake, shrimp cocktails, beef tenderloin, etc. There are also bars located throughout the exhibition halls during this event as well. They serve both white and red wine, soda, and water. I was fortunate enough to volunteer at this event with Yelp Helps. I was "bartendering" at the event, and it was a lot of fun! If you would like a re-entry pass, they're available for $1. Definitely a great deal, especially if you want to shop more! There's also another show in the spring called the Spring Market. Its held during the first weekend during April. I highly recommend going to either the Spring Market show or the Christmas Collection show. This is a wonderful shopping event where you can find lots of things that you cannot find at your local mall. Plus, its a great way to support local nonprofit organizations and charities! read more

Elizabeth F.'s review is right on point for this craft fair. Of all the craft fairs in Richmond, I can say that the Bizarre Bazaar is my favorite. It usually happens twice a year in the Spring and around Christmas time. I will note that you do typically see a lot of the same vendors show after show however they definitely do a good job of getting new vendors in as well. The reviews mentioning the large amount of people that attend this craft fair are completely correct. I've tried everything, getting there as soon as it opens (where you will be waiting in a long line to file in), going on the first day during my normal work hours (still wall to wall people) and I've never found that exact right time to go so just get ready for the crowds! My typical pattern is to write down the people I'm shopping for ahead of time so I don't loose focus since there really are sooooo many vendors. Don't forget to get a coupon online for 50 cents off and purchase your ticket online as that is so much easier than than having to wait in two lines and then shop shop shop! Cheers to RIR for serving boxed wine at the concession this year! read more

Okay, I seriously love Bizarre Bazaar. Since I moved to Richmond about five years ago, I've gone every year to both the spring and Christmas shows. I've also been lucky enough to go on Wednesday night for the Christmas show. For three of the years a friend and I volunteered with Massey Cancer as the funds for the entrance on Wednesday night benefits the group, and we've been able to take a sneak peak for when we went back that weekend to shop! If you can afford it, Wednesday night is the way to go. Unless you have a lot of excess cash, it's pricey -- $105 to start shopping at 5pm or $40 to start shopping at 6:30pm. All the product is there, people are friendly and there's food, wine, and drinks to help while you shop the four giants rooms! AND there aren't any crowds. You can walk at any pace you want! This year I actually won tickets off the radio and got to go Wednesday night to just shop and not work. It was great because we had no pressure and I had already made arrangements to go on Saturday, so this way I was able to get in for $1 then! Note -- get a reentry pass if you go any day other than Sunday. You pay $1 (put it away from the other money in your wallet just in case you might spend it), and you can come in to shop another day. I've had non-buyer's remorse and regretted not having that pass and paid another $6.50 one year to get in a second time. This year was another great haul! I got presents for everyone on my list (and some for me!)! I actually have one booth who remembers me every time. Seriously. If I'm not shopping with my mom (it's a great mother-daugher bonding!), she'll ask me where she is.... Seriously, check it out. And go to the website to get the $0.50 coupon for admittance! read more

This year's annual event was not as impressive as previous years that I have attended. Didn't feel very well that Sunday; the last day of the event, and was only present for maybe the ending 3 hours, at most. Me and my Mother walked through the vendor booths pretty quickly, skipping things we didn't feel we absolutely needed to see. There was definitely more room to walk with it about to end, there were far less people there then than when I've gone on a Saturday morning. One perk about being there during the final hour, on the final day; a lot of vendors want to get rid of as much of their inventory as possible and give you great deals within the last hour down to 10 minute call mark. All in all, this is still one of my favorite events and I will continue to attend every year as I have been doing so the past 3 years. It is definitely worth you coming to check it out. There is always something that will satisfy every type of person. read more

I go every year to this and love it, both in in the spring and fall. I have to say the fall show has twice as many vendors. Yes, as the person before me states not everything is handmade. I personally go to get ideas to get Christmas ideas, and pick up a few things I cannot find elsewhere. And there are tons of food vendors with samples, so you can eat while you shop....it's a win-win. read more

This is no longer a display of artists fare. It is a flea market jammed with products of mass production you can buy anywhere. Out of hundreds of booths, there were perhaps 11 real crafts of distinction represented. read more