CAPITAL CRAFT FAIR

From a passion for craftsmanship

Six, five, four… weeks until Christmas. Everyone probably remembers “Love Actually,” the most festive of films, whose structure is based on counting down the weeks until Christmas. We’re counting down, too. Although not to Christmas, but to the Capital Craft Fair. So why are we writing about Christmas? Because on STR you’ll be able to find, among other things, unique gifts.

Colorful socks and hats? – KABAK, a manufacturer that sews only in Poland, will provide them. For winter, for summer, no difference. Happy people don't count time, after all. But if they wanted to, Drobiny Czasu invites you to their stand with watches, jewelry and accessories. These, in turn, can be hidden in a handmade bag, waist bag or backpack from Hehemi. Those who don't know it yet have a reason to visit STR. One of many reasons. It's hard to list them all, but the organizers of the fair guarantee that the customer will leave satisfied. Or rather, the "participant", because the creators of STR prefer to use nomenclature unrelated to trade. Why? The reason is trivial. Because the Capital Craft Fair is more than a place where you enter like a shopping mall and leave with numerous shopping bags. It is a space where you can simply come to touch, smell, try, to commune with handicrafts. – We are activating all the senses because we really want visitors to the fair to see that crafts are more than small, stuffy workshops hidden in basements, run by people detached from reality. After all, these are also innovative ideas and modern productions, created based on traditional thinking and respecting it – explains Paweł Leszczyński, the originator of the Fair. – But Warsaw also lacks a coherent, fresh, modern space in which both traditional manufacturers and their modern successors can present themselves – adds Michał Lassota, the second organizer. – And above all, a place is missing where the center is the person, and not just what they create – he concludes.

Lofty goals and heads full of dreams

The event's creators dream of STR becoming a kind of portal combining tradition and modernity - for both exhibitors and visitors. The former have the opportunity to present what they often produce from generation to generation. The latter can learn about the creation process, and thanks to this, understand the objects better. They have the opportunity to touch, smell and taste them. - Many people will probably be looking for Christmas presents. We want to help them find not reproducible ones, but productive ones - original, creative and solid. We are in favor of buying wisely, good quality things that will serve for years. We know that the exhibitors we invite to the fair believe in the same ideas as we do. We can vouch for them. But we are not and do not want to be a Christmas fair. We dream that visitors to the fair will be delighted with handicrafts as much as we are, that they will want to learn more about them, that they will be interested in their history. So that they catch the same passion for handicrafts and crafts as we do – says Leszczyński.

New flavors, old recipe

He speaks honestly, because STR was created out of passion. Its creators are professionals, but also, and perhaps above all, enthusiasts. The fair is still hot, just cooked, the work of well-known chefs, or rather brewers, who have so far served the capital at the Warsaw Beer Festival (the next edition is planned for spring 2023). The head chef is the Wolny Kraft association, and the chefs are, already introduced, Leszczyński and Lassota, who made their debut as craftsmen during the autumn edition of the beer festival and presented a charity kvass. The income from its sale (all) was donated to a charity cause related to Ukraine. And it is precisely this – helping – that the creators of STR put first. They want to help creators, they want to help craft, they want to create an opportunity to get to know it.

Eat, buy, drink, make

There will be several options for getting to know it; buying original gifts for someone or yourself (because why not!). Stocking your fridge and pantry with unique regional products - healthy, unprocessed and tasty. Stocking your... bar. Because after all, craftsmanship also means traditional breweries and alcohols. Finally - on-site tastings, which will be provided primarily by selected food trucks. There will also be a special option for the extremely picky, who will not be satisfied with what they see - they will get a chance to make what they want, with their own hands. For them (and not only for them) the STR organizers are preparing tastings and workshops. – We want our guests to be able to relax, unwind and simply have fun, but we also hope that in this fun we will manage to smuggle in some knowledge about craft, show what a unique and difficult job it is and, let's not beat around the bush, we hope that the workshop participants will be infected with our passion for handicraft – enumerates Leszczyński.

Small matters

The STR organizers, as befits craft enthusiasts, like to act creatively. And for good causes. Hence the ideas for charity events, hence the idea of the festival in general. Hence the percentage of ticket sales allocated to a purpose related to craft and finally, hence their caring care for craftsmen, especially the youngest ones. Times are difficult for everyone. But micro-creators, people running one-person businesses, dealing with production, logistics, sales, accounting, advertising and social media themselves struggle not only with fatigue and time, but above all - with the rising costs of energy, renting premises or components. They have small margins and cannot really afford mega promotions on the occasion of Black Friday. They have to calculate every single event precisely. It was to them that the organizers of the fair came up with the proposal of the Small Craft Zone, i.e. the option of renting a stand at a really competitive price. - We didn't plan it, the idea was born while working on the event and was simply a response to current needs. What can I say: we received very sincere messages that craftsmen are interested in our event, that they really like the idea, but that in the current market situation, they are not able to take the risk that they will not sell enough products to earn money at the fair. And with today's inflation, no one will give them such a guarantee. Each of us thinks three times before reaching into our pockets - notes Lassota. - We appreciated the sincerity on the other side and came up with a proposal from ourselves. Sure, we will earn less, but it's not just about money in life. We want to show small craftsmen that they are just as important to us as the big players - he ends. For the same reasons, the originators of STR try to reach craftsmen who do not advertise themselves online at all.

Of course, the organizers do not hide the fact that the event – like any other of its kind – simply has to pay off. That is why the stands are paid for at all. But the price for them is transparent: there are no hidden costs, additional points in the agreements, or annexes. – We know that some of our competitors provide a lower starting price, and then it turns out that furniture rental, a bill for energy consumption, etc. have to be added to this price. We do not play with such things. We do not waste our time on unfair play. We believe that this is our greatest strength – says Leszczyński. – We know that there are already several similar events on the market, some even take place at exactly the same time as ours, but we are simply different – he adds.

The organizers keep emphasizing that, unlike the competition, for them the heart and driving force of everything is the human being. It seems that the message reaches the recipients and has already stolen the hearts of the craftsmen themselves, because the Polish Craft Association recently wrote about the fair. The event's creators also plan to cooperate with non-governmental organizations, cultural centers and museums. They are not sure if they will manage to implement all of this this year, because a lot is happening in a very short time. - We have huge appetites, but observing craftsmen has taught us that everything is a matter of time and practice. So even if we do not implement everything now, we will develop in the next editions, just like we did with the Beer Festival. We made mistakes, but we also learned from them. In the fall, we hosted 17 thousand people and collected several dozen thousand złoty for charity purposes - says Lassota. - We organize commercial fairs, from which we earn money and from which, we very much hope, the craftsmen will earn well. We live in times when everything revolves around money and there is no escape from it. But we can change the emphasis a bit. We focus on the dream of becoming a kind of patron of crafts, who will take care of them and make them develop. Hence our motto: "For crafts to grow". Both we and STR will grow with them - he adds.

Under the slogan "For craft to grow", the organizers of the fair are running a podcast about craftsmen and craft. Anyone interested in what can be heard there should check out YouTube. And definitely, in two weeks, exactly on December 10-11 at the Legia Stadium. The countdown is on. Tickets can be purchased online or immediately before the event.

STR's partner is Warsaw Tourism Organization and media patrons: Meloradio, Radio Kampus, NaszeMiasto.pl, Horeca Trends and Portal Spożywczy.