Artisan Markets, Robotics Tours, and Museum Festivals Draw Crowds

More Than 150 Vendors Set for West Columbia Handmade Craft Festival

Artisans and independent merchants are preparing for a full slate of seasonal and spring marketplaces, led by the announcement that more than 150 vendors will fill the South Carolina State Farmers Market in West Columbia on March 13 and 14, 2027, for the Handmade Arts and Crafts Festival, according to Lexington Ledger reporting summarized by Hoodline.

Operating Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. (noon) to 4 p.m., the two-day gathering offers free admission, free parking, and pet-friendly aisles featuring handmade home decor, gifts, and crafts. The format mirrors recurring partnerships between the State Farmers Market and the Midlands Crafters Association at the South Farmers Shed at 3483 Charleston Highway, including the March 21 and 22, 2026, Midlands Spring Arts & Crafts Market noted by Kidding Around Columbia and the Midlands Christmas Arts and Crafts Market that concluded Sunday, November 8, 2026, with more than 150 exhibitors as reported by Here Columbia.

New Bedford AHA! Night Pairs 30th Park Anniversary With Robotics Tours

In Massachusetts, downtown New Bedford will stage its free monthly AHA! Night celebration of art, history, and architecture this Thursday, November 12, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Congress establishing the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park on November 12, 1996, according to WBSM reporting cited by Hoodline.

AHA! director Kim Goddard noted that the Star Store will host an artisan market from 5 to 8 p.m. featuring around 50 local makers (listed as nearly 50 on the AHA! event page and more than 50 by WBSM), 2 new gallery exhibits, food demonstrations, and a Made in New Bedford gift-wrapping station, alongside a 6 p.m. walking tour and markets at the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center on Bethel Street and Gallery X on William Street. The Whaling National Historical Park will hold a 30th Anniversary Cake Cutting from 5:30 to 6 p.m., while the Nathan and Polly Johnson House on Seventh Street—where Frederick Douglass and his wife Anna established their first free home in September 1838—marks its own 30th anniversary. Visitors can also tour industrial automation at New Bedford Research and Robotics (founded in 2021) at 1265 Purchase Street before evening sets by the Buttonwood Brass Band at the Harbor Hotel from 6 to 8 p.m., the Neal McCarthy Trio at Pour Farm Tavern from 8 to 11:30 p.m., and jazz at the Zeiterion Speakeasy.

Nashville's Frist Arts Fest and Rosemont's Holiday Toy & Game Fair

At 919 Broadway in Nashville, the Frist Art Museum hosted Frist Arts Fest from 1 to 5 p.m. (615-244-3340) with live music, indoor performances, and studio workshops accompanying three exhibitions—"Shimmer: Dreaming the Posthuman," "Robin Vuchnich: In Search of Thoreau's Flowers—The Memory of a Season," and "Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York"—as well as artist Gabriel Dawe's suspended thread installation "Plexus No. 47" in the Atrium, which opened April 16, 2026, and remains on view through April 30, 2028, per Hoodline. Meanwhile, in Rosemont, Illinois, the Chicago Toy & Game Fair and People of Play Wishlist Weekend concluded at 5 p.m. Sunday after running November 7 and 8 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center with booths from Toys"R"Us and Fat Brain Toys, previews on WGN Weekend Morning News with Certified Play Expert Ahren Hoffman, Tim Joyce, and Jewell Hillery, ticket tiers of $15 for adults and $10 for youth admission (with a $3 Eventbrite discount), and the Young Inventor Challenge for ages 6 to 18 (described in advance materials as the 21st annual edition and in the ChiTAG schedule as the 10th annual contest), according to Hoodline.