Markets and Festivals

This is the last blog post in the series of "What does Los Colores do outside of our online webshop?". 

Especially this post is very relevant right now as Nicolas and Michelle (author of this post) just came back from the US after 5 weeks of showing the beautiful handmade art of Guatemala and Los Colores at festivals and markets in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The above is a corner of our booth setup at the New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival. We are lucky to know some great people in the US who also work with the same artisan communities in Guatemala as we do.

They invite us to join forces with them and together, we have created a special collective that is devoted to sharing the Guatemalan crafts with the world.

If you love high-quality leather products with a touch of beautiful and traditional textiles from Guatemala, you have to know Travis and his project www.teysha.com. And if you love funky and colorful textile earrings, you must visit www.swietstuff.com where Emily is doing some incredible and empowering work with local artisan women.

Everything 100% handmade in Guatemala.

So far, we went to Jazzfest and Bayou Boogaloo festival in New Orleans, and the Austin City Limits and Two Step Inn festivals in Austin, Texas. We have also attended the Mayan Warrior art car events in Austin and in Los Angeles in 2021 - yes, the one that goes to Burning Man every year (!), and some private events as well.

And besides that, we've been lucky that people have invited us to some beautiful farmers' markets and crafts market around the States.  

This is Nicolas at ACL '21 in Austin, Texas. Our cute corner was so popular and we were busy all of the time which is so very motivating for us and makes us want to keep coming back to show the beautiful art of Guatemala.

This is me, Michelle, at Gaslamp Market in San Diego, CA. I am proud and feel so lucky to be able to represent this art outside of Guatemala and support the Los Colores family and artisans.

Above is our setup at Bayou Boogaloo '22. We are not going to lie. It is hard work (especially in the Summer heat), and the costs of doing this is very high.

But we enjoy so much to meet all of you out there and to spread the word about Guatemala and its colourfulness. 

We really hope we will be able to keep doing these events because it enables us to send enough money back home to our artisan communities so they can keep creating and keep sustaining their families as well. 

Our long-term goal with this venture is to bring founders and designer, Jaime and Marina, and some of our talented artisans to the US so they can meet all of you as well.

We have also done markets and events in Guatemala and Mexico. Diana, daughter of founder Jaime, went to Mexico City for a new market. See below. 

Like I said, it's a lot of work to do these events outside of Guatemala; to travel, to prepare for them, set up the jewelry, acquiring display material in another country, etc. where you don't have a base. But it's honestly so worth it when we get to see the expression of the faces of people who see this unique, handmade jewelry for the first time, or of returning customers reuniting with this art from the colorful Mayan world. 

Thanks for reading along on this little series of what we do outside of the webshop. 

We always love to hear back from you, so don't hesitate to email us info@loscoloresdelatierra.com or DM us on socials @loscoloresdelatierra. 

We appreciate you!

Saludos desde Guatemala