People enjoying the 2018 Jamestown Christmas Parade and Holiday Celebration. A new Artisan Christmas Bazaar has been proposed to be held this year during the three Saturdays prior to Christmas that will include local vendors and downtown businesses. P-J file photo

A new Jamestown Christmas holiday tradition might be started later this year.

Diana Scott, Studio D Catering owner, wants to start a new holiday event of an Artisan Christmas Bazaar in downtown Jamestown that will happen the three Saturdays before Dec. 25. However, to make the bazaar happen, Scott is asking the community for help.

Scott will be hosting a meeting at 4 p.m. Saturday at Studio D Catering, 106 E. Second St., Jamestown, to start planning the event.

“I’m going to need a lot of help. It’s a huge undertaking,” she said. “(The meeting) is going to be the start of the networking to get ideas to see who is willing to volunteer. It’s going to take a lot of us to pull this off every Saturday. We are looking for volunteers. We can’t pull this off without them.”

The bazaar will include area vendors who make their own products on city sidewalks and businesses on two floors of the Dykeman Building, located at 100 E. Second St. Scott said there will be food and music, and a tree farm where people can select their family’s Christmas tree for the holiday season.

“I’m excited about this. The whole purpose is to get people back downtown to see what they’ve been missing,” she said. “So many people don’t realize what we have here downtown. There are so many new shops and young people opening up unique stores downtown. If we want to keep these wonderful shops open downtown, we need to support them. This is the year we need to come back and support our downtown merchants.”

Scott said the new holiday event was inspired by the bazaar Buffalo holds during the Christmas season.

“Everyone who comes into (Jamestown) says that we have so many talented people in this small town,” she said. “I think this is a great way to support retail, and get people downtown and shop for the holidays.”

The response so far to the holiday bazaar has been positive, Scott said. She is working with the city to get the necessary permits for the event. She added that a lot of businesses are already contacting her about wanting to be involved, which also includes community organizations like St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

“(The bazaar idea) is getting around and a lot of people are very excited,” she said. “They rely on selling their goods, especially during the holidays.”