Celebration Village gears up for busy weekend in Tupelo

The Christmas marketplace is the single largest fundraiser for The Sanctuary Hospice House

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Thousands of people are getting a jump on their Christmas shopping lists at Celebration Village. The area’s largest holiday marketplace features 120 vendors under one roof at the Tupelo Furniture Market.

Eight-year-old Ruah Hillensbeck was working the crowd handing out free samples at the Pop Pop’s Freeze Dried Candy booth.

The third grader from Brandon enjoys helping her granddad market and make the freeze-dried goodies at their business.

“You got to, like, unwrap the candy and then put it on pans separate and freeze dry it or else it might bundle together,” Hillensbeck said.

Vendors said whether it’s their first time or 20th time at Celebration Village, they enjoy showcasing their products, meeting loyal and new customers, and helping Sanctuary Hospice House. Ticket sales, sponsors, a bake shop, and booth rental fees provide funds for Sanctuary Hospice.

Vendors sell everything from clothes and accessories to food, and everything in between.

“We sell bath and body products, detergents, sweatshirts, and it’s all-natural maybe two or three ingredients,” said Tracy Weeks, owner of Epiphany Bath & Body.

“Our t-shirts are $10.99, sheet sets, high thread count sheet sets, and lots of sweatshirts, tunics, to show the customers a glimpse of what we carry in the mall,” said Raj Ranjan, owner of Gifts to Go.

“I tell women when they come in, they say, men are so hard to buy for, I say three things: flashlights, knives, and hats. They say, they already have that, I tell them, ‘you go look in your closet, when you run out of shoes and have enough, that’s when you stop buying flashlights, knives, and hats’,” said Billy Sisk, owner of The Manly Gift Store.

“Christmas shirts. They love the Christmas shirts, and of course, the new bling they are putting in their hair. We do bling in the hair. So cute,” said Robin Bounds, owner of Robin’s Unique Boutique.

With more vendors than ever before there is something for everyone at Celebration Village and when you walk in the door you are helping Sanctuary Hospice House provide compassionate end-of-life care, to thousands of patients.

Celebration Village runs Saturday, October 21 through 5 p.m. For more information, go to sanctuaryhospicehouse.com/celebration-village

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