Floyd County Fairgrounds hosts fall shopping event

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

Crafts, decorations, kitchen goods, and more were up for sale this weekend as the Floyd County Fairgrounds hosted the Charles City & Vendor Shopping Event on Saturday, Oct.. 21.

“I really enjoy coming to Charles City,” said Lisa Canedo, who organized the event.

Along with having a home business of her own at the event, Canedo also spends her time organizing shows like this across the area with upcoming shows planned for Mason City, New Hampton and Riceville in the coming weeks. This is the second year Canedo has held a shopping event in Charles City and she said she has been happy to see it grow.

“My goal is to make the vendors happy and the public happy,” said Canedo. “Charles City has been really supportive.”

With two buildings full of vendors along with food trucks and a few outdoor exhibits trying to not get blown away by the wind, there was plenty to shop for at the event.

From local home businesses to out-of-state visitors, the shopping event drew in a wide selection of items to browse from more than 60 vendors. Some had kitchen items like storage systems, spices, and wines, while others had indoor and outdoor decorations for upcoming holidays.

“There’s just a really great variety of them out here,” said Canedo.

The event drew in a big crowd of shoppers, keeping vendors busy through the morning and afternoon as people browsed their selections.

“It was really crazy this morning,” said Greg Miller of Happy Hippy out of Nora Springs. “It’s been a really good crowd all the way through.”

With a solid reception and nice, if a little breezy, weather, Canedo said she is happy with how this year’s shopping event turned out and is already planning on how to make it better for next year.

“The vendors are really happy with the turnout,” said Canedo. “We really appreciate the people coming out.”