My father passed away in 2013; and after he became a widower in 1996, there was a point in his life when he would frequent the annual Christmas bazaars that would be part of the event landscape from August to December. The funny part was that he didn’t like crowds and queues, and so he’d show up some 30-40 minutes before the bazaars would officially open, and insist on buying and paying, and leaving. The joke that friends who had stalls would text me was that he was their “Bueno Mano;” and that they’d have to attend to him in the midst of setting up. As they said, “Sayang din the sale.” And he would repeat this routine over those months that the bazaars would sprout up – I surmise it was therapy for him, and it was getting his Christmas shopping done early.

I mention this in passing, as Bea Zobel Jr. and Sofia Zobel Elizalde are the co-founders of the Designers Holiday Bazaar, which is now on it’s 13th year; and I’m sure if my Dad were still around, he would have loved to show up at the DHB, make “kwento” with the two, and leave before the bazaar opens. How the girls and the DHB stall-owners would welcome his premature arrival, I can only guess. As I know these bazaars are run more formally now, and with stricter ingress stipulations – in his days, they were held in covered basketball courts or converted open fields, and he would just wander in and start buying.

The Designers Holiday Bazaar, is a nonprofit bazaar that benefits the Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI), and STEPS Foundation scholars. This year, it’ll happen from Nov. 29 to Dec. 7, and at two venues – at the Glorietta, and at Greenbelt 5. Showcasing the best in Filipino fashion, food, home furnishings, and wellness products; it will be presented by GCash and Globe.

At the Greenbelt 5, you can find the Bazaar at The Gallery and Amphitheatre on the second floor. At the Glorietta, it will be at the Main Activity Center, and at the Palm Drive Activity Center. The Palm Drive Glorietta location will be devoted to artisanal food brands, to Gourmet treats, local delicacies, baked goods and for food-related gift baskets.

As to why the sisters have sustained this Bazaar over the years, Sofia Zobel Elizalde had this to say, “We have always believed that passion can take many local talents to great heights when given the right support. More than a marketplace, the Designers Holiday Bazaar is a platform that makes dreams come true, potentials realized, and goals achieved. Every patron gets to be a part of this mission, it’s a collective effort that inevitably makes Christmas shopping more meaningful.”

And Bea Zobel Jr. added, “It is heartwarming to see both consumers and beneficiaries benefit from the Designers Holiday Bazaar. Families take home beautifully crafted products from different regions of the Philippines, while artisans gain greater visibility, and scholars receive vital support. It’s quite inspiring, even for us; and it moves us to do better and aim higher every time.”

The two women do the actual curating themselves, checking on the products and merchandise months earlier; working on the recommendations of friends or following up on personal discoveries – so it’s not just the same network of sellers from the previous iterations. The big idea is to have the Bazaar also function as an incubator for MSMEs that are championing Filipino-made products. The Bazaar can be their testing ground before going full-on retail, or be a brick and mortar pop-up for what was exclusively marketed online. It’s really about turning the Bazaar into an avenue of “possibility.”

On a sidebar note, I salute platforms such as this Designers Holiday Bazaar, to ArteFino, to MaArte, and the likes. What’s sad to note is that in spite of their proliferation and existence on an annual basis, the artisanal artists and producers still find it difficult to sustain their operations on a year round basis. I’ve spoken to some of them, and they say demand is still seasonal at best, and this does not allow them to generate economies of scale to bring down their pricing. As a result, I still hear the complaint of consumers, that Filipino-made is more expensive than imported merchandise. The Kultura network of SM Retail, the Spatio at Opus Mall of Robinsons Retail, and Tesoro’s are still the ones that come to mind when thinking of year-round retail of Filipino merchandise.

GCash is launching PocketPay and SoundPay during the Bazaar; helping the MSMEs embrace digital transactions, especially in the case of SoundPay – as business owners can use voice alerts, so transactions are hands free and service to the customers is enhanced. With Globe, there’s a Globe Platinum Lounge that will offer Platinum subscribers a veritable ‘oasis’ during their shopping.

And if you’re of the same spirit as my late father, who would try and attend all the bazaars, know that the ArteFino Holiday Fair at the Fifth at Rockwell is happening from Nov. 27 to 30, and it’s for the benefit of HeArteFino.