Black Forest's Holiday Shopping Season Is Run by Its Neighbors. Here's the Calendar.

This week, the historic Black Forest Community Center at 12530 Black Forest Road is set up as a single shop. Quilts, pottery, stained glass and jars of preserves fill the room, with one checkout line at the end. The people who made all of it live in Black Forest. The Black Forest Arts & Crafts Guild's Fall Show opened Wednesday, Nov. 4, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 8. This is the 62nd annual fall show.

Black Forest has no mall and no shopping district, so the holiday season gets built by local groups. A resident guild opens it, a community club and a church fill December, and a family farm on Burgess Road closes it out the day after Christmas. At the Guild show, part of what shoppers spend helps fund a local scholarship and community donations.

A show where the sellers are neighbors

The Guild describes itself as a nonprofit membership group for Black Forest residents. Members don't rent individual spaces. Their work is sold together in a boutique-style show with one central checkout. You shop the whole room, carry everything to one register, and the Guild handles the sales for the makers.

According to the Guild's scholarship page, the Guild was established in 1965. A Guild member interviewed by The Gazette in 2021 put the founding at 1964, so either way the group is past 60. It runs two shows a year, one in spring and one in fall. The fall show lands right where holiday gift lists start.

Here are this year's hours, as listed in The Gazette's holiday craft fair roundup:

Admission is free. Strollers aren't allowed inside the Community Center, so families with little ones should plan for a carrier. Those three 9-to-7 days are the Guild's longest, which helps if you can only come after work. Sunday is a short four-hour window to close things out.

What's on the tables, and where the money goes

Guild members make quilts and afghans, baby items, paintings, pottery, jewelry, woodworking, stained glass, dolls, stitchery, note cards, baked goods, jams and jellies, and candles. The food is part of the show, too. The Guild's PeakRadar listing puts it this way:

"Our culinary artists are busy preparing a huge selection of autumn-themed culinary delights! Pumpkin and spice, anyone!"

Show patrons help fund local causes. The Guild started a scholarship in 2006. It's funded by Guild donations, community members and patrons of the spring and fall shows, and it goes each year to a graduating senior who meets the Guild's local residency criteria. The Guild also says it donates every year to groups and individuals who benefit the Black Forest community.

You can also give without buying anything. The Guild's homepage asks visitors to bring nonperishable food to the fall show for Black Forest-area food pantries. If you're going anyway, toss a few cans in the car.

December is when everyone else joins in

The Guild show starts the season. Over the next seven weeks, a market organizer, the Community Club and a church add their own events. Here's the order:

1. Saturday, Nov. 14: Fall Into Winter Holiday Market. Backyard Market's event listings put this one at Edith Wolford Elementary School, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with more than 70 vendors. Backyard Market confirms on its holiday markets page that it's holding two Black Forest holiday markets this season, so check that page for final details before you go.
2. Saturday, Dec. 5: Black Forest Community Club Christmas Market. The Black Forest Community Club lists its Christmas Market from 2 to 7 p.m. Vendor booths are $50 through the club's sign-up form, so local makers who aren't Guild members have a place to sell too.
3. Saturday, Dec. 12: A Very Merry Black Forest Holiday Market. This is Backyard Market's second Black Forest market, listed for Edith Wolford Elementary with more than 70 vendors and hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
4. Sunday, Dec. 13: Kids Christmas Program at Black Forest Lutheran Church. The church's October newsletter schedules its annual Kids Christmas Program and a youth Christmas musical recital for that evening. The church is at 12455 Black Forest Road. The newsletter doesn't give a start time yet.

The early-November show and the December markets do different jobs. The Guild show is limited to members' handmade work. The Community Club and Backyard Market events open things up to a wider set of vendors. If you're shopping for many people on your list, the Guild show is the one to hit first, while the selection is full. The December markets are good for whatever you still need.

Forest Bend Farm takes the season past Christmas

The last stretch of the calendar is at Forest Bend Farm, 9525 Burgess Road. It sits on the south side of Burgess, half a mile east of Vollmer Road, and signs on the road point you onto the property. Its Christmas season opens Friday, Nov. 27. Sessions run Nov. 27 and 28, then Dec. 4–6, 11–13 and 17–23, plus Dec. 26. Arrival windows run between 3:30 and 7 p.m. depending on the date. Reservations opened Oct. 27, so popular nights may already be filling up.

Prices vary by date and time, and children under 24 months get in free. The jump from $18 to $22 is the reason to book early. The same evening costs $4 more per person once you reach the Dec. 18–26 window, which adds up fast for a family of five. The Dec. 22 and 23 daytime sessions are the cheapest option at $15. The farm pitches them to families with young children who need an earlier bedtime.

The farm lists a hayride through the lights, a kids' nativity play, kids' crafts and crafts for sale. Sparkle Steps, an underfoot light feature, is new this season. Like the Guild show, the evening includes handmade goods for sale, so your last chance for local gifts falls a few days before Christmas.

One trail-day detail for the colder months

If your weekend plans pair a market with a walk, note a change at Fox Run Regional Park. El Paso County Parks lists four Fox Run restrooms as closed from Nov. 1 through March 31. The Wedding Gazebo restroom stays open all year. The county's park page, updated Oct. 20, 2026, still marks the accessible sidewalks to the updated Wedding Gazebo and Warming Hut restrooms as under construction. It also says the park's Special Events Gazebo will open for reservations in 2027. Check the Fox Run page before heading out with kids or anyone who needs the accessible route.

We live and work alongside the makers, volunteers and families behind these events, and we love helping people find their place in Black Forest. If you're wondering what your acreage is worth before the new year, or you'd like new Black Forest listings sent straight to your inbox, Aimee Fletcher and the team are happy to help. Receive Exclusive Listings & Free Home Valuation, and we'll see you at the Community Center.