FEATURED POP
Made in NH Expo Returns for 22nd Year
Written By Matt Ingersol (listings@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
Anything you can think of can be found at the annual Made in NH Try it & Buy it Expo if it comes from somewhere in the Granite State, from food and drinks to paintings by local artists and books by local authors.
The 22nd annual event is happening at the Expo Center of the Radisson Hotel in Manchester over three days, on Friday, March 24, from 1 to 8 p.m., on Saturday, March 25, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Sunday, March 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“Our mission when we started the expo was to celebrate all New Hampshire businesses, from the tiniest micro-businesses in the state to the much larger,” said Heidi Copeland, publisher of Business NH Magazine, which organizes the event each year. “So we look at this as an opportunity to showcase all of the things that are manufactured here in New Hampshire in one place.”
About 140 local exhibitors are expected to attend all three days of the expo, and visitors can expect a wide variety, Copeland said. All exhibitors must either make a product or provide a service in New Hampshire.
“What’s unique about the expo is the ‘Try it and Buy it’ aspect of it,” she said. “People can bring their appetite and pick up food along the way.”
But you’ll find more than just food and drinks over the course of the three days of the expo. WMUR News 9 will be bringing a green screen, for example, for kids and adults to learn about how television news is produced. Local painters and authors will also be there to showcase their paintings and books, like K.M. Doherty of Dover and Richard L. Hatin of Hooksett.
Copeland said other exhibitors appearing at this year’s expo include the Mill Fudge Factory in Bristol, the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Northern New England in Londonderry, Canobie Lake Park in Salem, and dozens of others that include restaurants, breweries, bakeries, private medical practices, pet stores, jewelry stores and much more.
New to this year’s expo will be a Libation Station featuring several local wineries, including Fulchino Vineyard in Hollis, Hobbs Tavern & Brewing Co. in West Ossipee, Hermit Woods Winery in Meredith, Summit Winery in Westmoreland, Appolo Vineyards in Derry and Moonlight Meadery in Londonderry.
Live entertainment is also planned during all three days of the expo.
“We’ll have Irish step dancers, we’ll have a jazz singer and we’ll have a magician come in and do some magic shows for the kids,” Copeland said.
She added that the list of vendors changes every year with new exhibitors.
“We usually have a turnover rate [for vendors] of about 35 percent,” she said. “We do a lot of promotion and reaching out to different organizations. … Sometimes people will come to the expo and just check it out for the first year and then sign up as an exhibitor for the second year. … It’s kind of a two-pronged thing in that we want to provide great entertainment to the public while also introducing them to a business in the state they may not know about.”