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Sugar Plum Festival offers shoppers a winter wonderland

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For Fred Richter and his wife Camilla Richter, what started as a project to earn some extra cash for the holidays has turned into a winter wonderland tradition that people have been attending for 37 years.

The pair began selling arts and crafts with 11 friends out of their two-bedroom home in 1977, and since then their entrepreneurship has grown into the Sugar Plum Festival, which now hosts about 200 vendors and exhibited at the OC Fair and Events Center this weekend.

“It never stopped growing from where it started,” Fred Richter said. “It grew from a house to a community center to a couple larger areas, including at the OC Fairgrounds, where we’ve been for 13 years.”

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He said the event has grown because of quality, service and price, which he attributes to a successful business model.

The free event focuses on hand-crafted items, from tamales to jewelry, that are made locally.

The event attracts a few thousand people annually, with a line out the door each day.

“It’s the best thing to have these people come out for Christmas and to have a good time,” Fred Richter said. “The prices are very reasonable. Ninety-eight percent of the people who come here are women, and the men tag along because they are ordered to hold a bag or something.”

San Clemente resident Rachael Owens said shopping at the Sugar Plum Festival has been a tradition she has shared with her mother for the past few years.

She said she enjoys the variety of trinkets and jewelry that the show offers.

“It’s nice to have this to share with my Mom,” she said. “It’s something we look forward to every year, and we always find great stuff.”

Judy Ulibarri, who was working for her daughter’s company Fun Files, which specializes in long-lasting nail files, said the festival is a great opportunity to draw business and generate word of mouth.

“We’ve been doing this show for 10 years,” she said. “It really helps drive business. We make a lot of money here.”

The Sugar Plum Festival will host an exhibit and shopping event at the Buena Park Mall, 8308 On the Mall, Buena Park, from Dec. 3 to Dec. 7. Admission is free. For more information about the festival, visit sugarplumfestivals.com.

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