The Holiday Craft Festival, an annual event hosted by the University of Florida’s Stephen C. O’Connell Center, has been cancelled this year. 

In an announcement posted on its website, the O’Connell Center said the festival was cancelled due to “unforeseen scheduling conflicts.” 

“We deeply regret the disappointment this may cause and want to assure you that this decision was not made lightly,” the venue said. “Over the past few years, the festival has become increasingly more challenging to schedule. It coincides with several university sports seasons, numerous on-campus holiday events, and the lead-up to fall commencement ceremonies.” 

According to the University of Florida Business Affairs website, the craft festival is a yearly event “that showcases crafts that are authentically made by talented artisans and crafters.” 

For more than 30 years, the O’Connell Center has served as the host for the festival, but the venue said the event “has been a part of the Gainesville community for more than half a century.” 

The O’Connell Center said it is “diligently exploring all avenues to ensure the return of the Holiday Craft Festival in 2026.”  

“While we are not sure what this will look like at the current moment, we will inform everyone as soon as we have more details,” the venue said. 

In a phone interview with Mainstreet on Monday morning, Lynda Reinhart, senior director of the O’Connell Center, said the decision to cancel this year’s festival, which was scheduled for the first weekend in December, was made in late spring. 

Because the decision to cancel was made so far out, Reinhart said vendors never even registered for this year’s festival – meaning no refunds were needed. 

Reinhart said the O’Connell Center did explore alternative options for this year’s festival, including potentially moving the festival outdoors or to a different location. 

She said they wanted to keep the festival in Gainesville, but trying to find a venue that could host an event of its size (Reinhart said the festival is one of the biggest indoor craft festivals in the state) is a challenge. 

Additionally, Reinhart said they also looked at moving the festival to another weekend, but could not find any good options.  

Reinhart said the O’Connell Center has “every intention” of bringing the festival back next year if it has the support from vendors. 

She noted that they plan to start reaching out to vendors for the 2026 festival in the near future.  

If they do get the backing from vendors, Reinhart said next year’s festival would move back to its traditional Thanksgiving weekend date.  

For updates about the 2026 festival, Reinhart said people can visit the O’Connell Center’s website (https://www.oconnellcenter.ufl.edu/) or join their mailing list by emailing scoc-info@ufl.edu.  

Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.        

Editor’s note: This story was updated with comments from Lynda Reinhart.