Those looking to kick off the holiday season with a shopping event will soon have the chance, thanks to Cassopolis Public Schools.

Sam Adams Elementary School will  host its annual holiday bazaar from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Dec. 2. Local crafters and vendors including representatives from LulaRoe, MaryKay and Lipsense will have booths at the event. School organizations are also getting in on the fun, as the Parent-Teacher Organization will be selling Ranger gear, and the Cassopolis FFA will host a bake sale at the event.

A photographer will also be onsite to take holiday photos for interested families.

The event is free and open to the public, but vendors must pay $20 per booth. A breakfast and lunch will be available as a fundraiser at the event.

“We will have lots of local people who love crafting at the bazaar who knit or crochet,” said Lindsay Gorham, a sixth-grade teacher at Sam Adams and one of the organizers of the bazaar. “It will be a lot of fun, I think. There should be something for everyone.”

All proceeds from the bazaar will go toward the sixth-grade class’ annual field trip to Chicago.

“At the end of the year, we go to Chicago,” Gorham said. “It’s all about urban exploration. Since we live in such a rural community, we think it’s important to show kids what it’s like in a city and how different it is there.”

Some of the things the sixth graders will do in Chicago include going in the Skydeck, eating a deep-dish pizza at Giordano’s and visiting the bean.

This year, Gorham is planning on sending 57 sixth-graders on the trip. As the trip is costly, fundraising is important to ensure that the children are able to go on the trip and enjoy themselves, Gorham said.

“Last year, we had so much money in our account that we didn’t have to charge the kids,” she said. “We want the kids to have that same opportunity this year.”

The sixth-graders will be working at the bazaar to help fund their trip, right along with the adults. Currently, the children are working to secure sponsors to help fund the free food that will be provided at the event.

Gorham said she hopes everyone will come out to the event, not only to support the sixth-grade class, but to also kick off the holiday season.

Timing the event to coincide with Christmas in Cassopolis, Gorham said that Sam Adams Elementary’s holiday bazaar is good addition to the holiday cheer that will be going around Cassopolis on Dec. 2.

“[The bazaar] is just something fun where people are gathered in the community for a nice little afternoon,” Gorham said. “We really just think it is a nice way to kick off the holiday season.”