The Small Business Spark Fund

The Small Business Spark Fund

Since we began in 2016, the MN Christmas Market has existed to be a platform for charitable giving as well as a holiday shopping event for locals supporting small businesses. In 2025, we're stepping that up a notch, with 5% of all sales (concessions, shopping, and guest entry fees) at our events being invested into the "Small Business Spark Fund."

At each of our markets, one vendor is randomly chosen at the end of the night to be a recipient of the Small Business Spark Fund (SBSF). The SBSF consists of no-strings attached investments in them and their business in 3 simple ways:

  1. Return: Their vendor fee for the following year is covered!
  2. Rest: We cover the cost of a 3-night stay in Grand Marais for them to re-charge and take a breather.
  3. Re-Invest: We cover the cost of some custom merch, consulting AND a cash prize of more than $5000+.

These small businesses are the heartbeat of our state and communities. We want to use our markets to fill their buckets back up, in more ways than one, and urge them to keep on keeping on!