Bringing Long Beach businesses back to the boardwalk

Bringing local businesses back to the beloved boardwalk, the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual Vendor Fair, open to both residents and visitors of Long Beach. However, this one was special.

The first boardwalk fair since before Covid, the sold-out event hosted over 140 vendors on Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23, with vendors providing crafted items and merchandise for those who stopped by.

“It was wildly successful,” said Leah Tozer, the chamber’s co-chair and Citizens Advisory Committee member. “Our vendors were extremely happy and stayed true to our purpose. The majority were a lot of local vendors and we purposefully did not have food on the boardwalk so people would feel like going into town and supporting our chamber members who have food businesses. It was a well-organized and phenomenal event.”

The city of Long Beach is having its fair on the boardwalk, it’ll be a different feel than ours, and the historical society will have one too.”

Confident that the Chamber will present a similar event in the future, Tozer said, “We’ve been very consistent with the type of event that we’ve had and always make sure to protect our members and offer a free spot for our brick-and-mortar members. If they do well, they try to get on the boardwalk as much as possible.”

The boardwalk is one of the most important assets we have as a city: it brings people down to the beach, it’s beautiful and we want people to enjoy, respect and learn about it, and to have a common experience on the beach. We’re bringing commerce into town.”

The City of Long Beach Boardwalk Arts & Crafts Festival will also return this year, taking place on Saturday and Sunday, July 20 and 21, as well as the Historical Society Arts & Crafts Fair on August 24 and 25, where hundreds more vendors will line the boardwalk from Long Beach to Edwards Boulevard.

“Our goal is to have a great community event but we focus on our membership and showing our value for members and businesses in town, reconnecting and creating a really lovely experience for both residents and those outside the area,” Tozer said.