Fredericton Women’s Show back in full force

There were a lot of new faces among the 79 women-owned businesses who are celebrating their success this weekend in downtown Fredericton.

"There's only about 20 vendors from the previous women's show,” said Alicia Nicholson, the Fredericton Women's Show organizer. “Unfortunately a lot of them didn't make it through COVID-19. There's just a lot of outreach making sure we had all the vendors.”

The Women's Show gives them the opportunity to network and promote their items to the public.

"It is extremely empowering. It is so good to see so many women that are entrepreneurs that are chasing their dream,” said Jamie Murdock, founder of Journey Fitness. “It's just awesome to connect with amazing humans.”

For many of the women entrepreneurs, it's their first time taking business offline and in-person since the pandemic.

"A couple of the people we have talked to started their businesses during the pandemic,” said Amanda McGathey, co-founder of Loop Lifestyle. “Because maybe they were hairstylists and they were looking for something to take their time because they couldn't be doing that anymore,” McGathey said.

Many of the businesses at the show were born out of pandemic opportunity.

"During the start of the pandemic during lockdown, I started finding myself with a lot of time on my hands so I returned to beadwork,” said Marsha Vicaire of Be Heard Beadwork.

The event is also an opportunity for shoppers in the capital to support local women's businesses.

"It's wonderful women are doing their thing and it's great to support local and support women for sure,” said Alana Simpson, who attended the event.

The Fredericton Women's Show continues Sunday at the Convention Center.