Snowport, located in the Seaport area in Boston, is a new outdoor marketplace inspired by the holiday season. It is filled with many local small businesses that’ll stay running until the last day of December.
Here, you can window shop amongst the festively lit-up stores or shop for the perfect Christmas presents. The stores range in pricing and hold all diverse types of products, ranging from clothing brands to hot chocolate stands that help fight against the frigid air. There’s also a huge 10-foot mistletoe arch and interactive chalkboard to share holiday wishes. It’s all worth the Boston winter weather, but I still recommend that you bundle up.
I recently visited this market for the first time and was impressed by all the hidden gems that were there. I’ll be mentioning a few of my favorites that you can find either here, which I recommend so you can get the experience, or online if you cannot make it. I will be revisiting all these places in one way or another.
The Drift Collective here sells some vintage apparel. This shop is in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and aims to improve the fashion industry by becoming more sustainable. To do this, this company manages its whole creation process and makes its products right in front of shoppers in the store. Their website states that they are “taking what already exists and transforming it into something new,” which I now see as flipping the idea of trends on its head and producing something more sustainable and worth shopping for.
Going off this, Oceanum Vela is another business dedicated to making another industry that’s prominent in Boston a lot more sustainable. Founded in Maine, this company has developed a way to recycle sails that often just go to waste and make them into bags that you can carry with you for a long time. Some of these bags even come from prestigious boats that have won many races and they are all in hopes to enhance ocean health awareness. The proceeds for this company go to ocean conservation efforts.
When you’re drained from shopping, there’s also a large food selection here. Other than the hot chocolate (which I highly suggest) there’s Naughty Waffles which has endless toppings to satisfy your sweet tooth. Crepes from The Frenchman’s Crepes are mouth-watering even while walking by, along with the empanadas from The Nada Cart. If you really want the full New England experience while you’re here, you should consider Bluefin, which serves its well-known chowder and lobster mac n cheese. These are just a few of the many tasty food options.
There are many other small businesses here that are doing important things and are worth taking the time to stop and admire. Although this is only the second year of Snowport, I think it’ll continue and get busier each season.