If you want to buy a few really nice and original presents for people who matter, you could do worse than go to one of the two Craft Fairs that Amata will be holding in Altea (from 5 till 8 December) and Jávea (6, 7 and 8 December). Real craft fairs run by real craft people who sell only what they make themselves.
They can even make something specially for you, if you can’t find what you are looking for!
Altea
Altea is known as a very artistic town with lots of resident artists and a really lovely old town, but the fair will be held in the modern part of town, in front of the Town Hall (parallel to the main road N332 but 100 yards inland). 
Some 30 craft people will gather there with all sorts of original work. Pottery, glasswork, wooden and soft toys, leather, patchwork, design jewelry and all the other special stuff visitors to an Amata fair have come to expect.
And of course the typical delecacies of Christmas time, cheeses and sausages and even a stall with mulled wine. There will also be a small tavern with barbeque and a stall offering waffles, crèpes, hot chocolate or mulled wine.
For the kids there will be workshops, soap bubbles, table games and a merry-go-round. On Friday noon time the choir of U3A Calpe will come and sing Christmas carols and every day a lady juggler brings extra life to the fair, walking around on stilts, telling stories to the children, and, last thing in the evening, dancing en juggling with fire.
The fair starts on Thursday the 5th of December at 6 pm and lasts till Sunday evening. Opening times from 11 am till 9 pm (the fair doesn’t close at midday); Sunday they will close a bit earlier.
Jávea Port
The other fair that Amata organises in the same long weekend (both the 6th and the 8th of December are Bank holidays!) will be in the Port of Jávea. In a beautiful setting on the sea side promenade some twenty stalls will be set up around an enormous Christmas tree.
Every stall is offering something different and as all participants are real craft people, they bring their tools along so they can make small changes or personalize a chosen item, and can even accept special orders if you don’t find what you are looking for.
Some artesans will be at work in their stalls, so you can see with how much love and patience every item is made. Here Sergio will play well known (Christmas) melodies on his violin and potter José will bring his wheel and offers you the chance to make your own little bowl or vase.
This fair opens on the Friday morning, 6 December, and the opening times for the three days are from 11 am continuously till 8 pm, although on Sunday they close at 6 pm.
Every Saturday and Sunday morning
If you can’t visit these two markets in the “puente de diciembre”, you can go to the Port of Jávea on any other weekend and have a look at the stalls that are set up every Saturday and Sunday morning from 11 am till 2 or 3 pm.
You can find the fair on Google maps if you look for Feria de Artesanía Jávea and they even have their own page in Facebook: feriaartesaniajavea, where they publish any news and changes in the opening times.
General information about the fairs that Amata organises you can find on the Amata web site (www.amata.es also in English), or you can ring 639 979 678 and talk – in English – to Elvira.
Last minute changes (e.g. in case of bad weather) will be anounced in Facebook (Amigos de Amata).
