From knitwear to custom-made shoes, from ceramics to homemade food, the pop-up festival on Makarios Avenue aims to give a festive adrenalin boost to what was once Nicosia’s busiest shopping street and provide would-be entrepreneurs a chance to test their wares on the Christmas gift buying public.
The festival, which lasts from November 15 to January 15, at the City Plaza area of Makarios Avenue has been organised for the second year in a row by the Nicosia municipality. The choice of venue is deliberate.
The municipality hopes the festival will draw Christmas shoppers back. And for start up businesses, the temporarily subsidised shop space provides a great opportunity to test their merchandise on the wider public.
“We received around 70 requests for the 27 shops we had available this year, and along with other various events, lectures, plays, etc we managed to accommodate 40 participants,” said Xenios Symeonides, coordinator of the pop-up festival.
He said that the committee had a hard time choosing participants since they were all highly creative.
From December 7 until January 2, Makarios Avenue will also host a ‘Christmas Street’ co-organised by the Nicosia municipality and Lefkosiazo. Wooden houses will be set up offering festive treats, food and beverages.
The section of Makarios Avenue from Evagoras Street to Arnaldas Street will be closed to traffic from December 1 until January 4.
