By JEFF CLEMETSON

Aficionados of arts and crafts markets and the vendors that sell their wares there have seen many of their beloved events cancelled throughout the pandemic. Fortunately, as case rates go down, vaccination rates go up and tier colors begin skewing toward shades of yellow or green, many outdoor markets will soon begin coming back. One such event is the San Diego Made Summer Market, which will be held May 1 and 2 at Grossmont Center in La Mesa.

San Diego Made co-founder Kristin Dinnis said the May event will be similar to the one it held at Grossmont Center in November — outdoors with socially-distanced booths, readily-available sanitation stations and other COVID safety precautions. She credits the large parking area Grossmont offers for the ability to put on the market.

“Our events are normally indoors, but because we wanted to make sure that they’re safe and that people are OK to be able to come to the event and feel safe, we wanted to do them outside,” she said.

With a 1960s/1070s theme, the market will feature theme backdrops for photo opportunities, including a 1960s trailer; roller skaters going around taking pictures and promoting the event; live music featuring local artists; and live art demonstrations from several of the vendors.

“The theme is 1960s, 1970s so we’re trying to create the whole vibe,” Dinis said.

What won’t be present are food trucks or a bar, which are normally part of San Diego Made events. There will, Dinnis said, be pre-packaged food for sale.

The main feature, of coarse, will be the art and crafts vendors — 96 of them.

“We had an overwhelming amount of vendors applying. We had to open it up and redo our layout to try and fit in 15 more vendors,” Dinnis said, adding that the pandemic has been hard on many of the usual vendors at San Diego Made events.

“We’ve seen some small businesses that we’ve worked with in the past close down, not a huge amount but still several that it is hard to see that they weren’t able to make it because they rely so heavily on doing public markets and events like this. It’s basically how they make their money throughout the year,” she said. “[The Grossmont market is] a good opportunity for the public to come and experience these events and as well for the small businesses to be able to make the income they normally would at these kinds of events throughout the year.”

San Diego Made Summer Market will be held May 1 and 2, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. at Grossmont Center, 5500 Grossmont Center Drive, La Mesa. The event is free, as is the raffle and door gifts while supplies last. For more information, visit www.sandiegomade.org.

— Reach editor Jeff Clemetson at [email protected].