Attention, shoppers

Thanksgiving traditionally marks the transition from Indian summer and fall to the great ho-ho-holiday season, a time when flip-flops, suntan lotion, and watermelon are distant memories replaced by mittens, scarves, and pumpkin pie. If there’s one good thing about days growing darker and nights colder, it’s the abundance of fairs, shows, and bazaars that showcase the best work of crafts people and artists in New England.

Only a Scrooge wouldn’t enjoy shopping in these diverse holiday venues, many of which are annual traditions bringing artisans and buyers together in a relaxed and festive setting, sometimes with great music and food. It’s like a party at your relatives’ house without angst or Aunt Betty’s eggnog. What better way to find that perfect gift, support the arts, and spend a wonderful afternoon? We’ve highlighted just a few of the upcoming fairs, including your three best bets at each venue.

December Sale- School of the Museum of Fine Arts

Cultural Survival Bazaar 1 David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge. Dec. 2-3 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free admission. cs.org

Cultural Survival Bazaar 2 Hynes Convention Center, 900 Boylston St., Boston. Dec. 9-10 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Free admission. cs.org

You can shop without a passport at this celebration of the arts, music, and food of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Cultural Survival, an international indigenous rights organization, sponsors more than 50 vendors selling hand-crafted, fair-trade items. Now in its 28th year, the bazaar will also have live music by a Guatemalan marimba band, Native American storytellers, traditional Lakota drumming, and interactive workshops.

·Global-minded shoppers will love the Yayla tribal rugs made by Afghan Turkman refugees in Northern Pakistan. Cultural Survival helped found the Esari Project to revive the art of these hand-carded, hand-spun, and vegetable-dyed wool rugs while also providing food and healthcare to the weaving families and their communities.

· Jesse Larocque, a member of the Abenaki tribe in northwest Vermont, has been making traditional black ash baskets for more than 16 years. Larocque will not only have his intricate basketry on display, but he’ll also demonstrate the labor-intensive process of stripping bark off a black ash tree, pounding the log, and shaving splints thin enough to weave.

· Fans of Native American jewelry will be delighted with Leonard FourHawks’s gemstone beadwork, as well as his sister Yvette’s sterling silver and turquoise lines. Leonard’s wife, Amalia, creates ‘‘Wisdom Keepers,’’ baskets made with natural materials such as leather, feathers, and fur. Based in Florence, Mass., Leonard is an accomplished Native American storyteller who’ll be performing at the Hynes event.

December Sale- School of the Museum of Fine Arts

School of the Museum of Fine Arts, 230 The Fenway, Boston. 617-369-3204. Dec. 6-7 from noon to 8 p.m. (opening reception Dec. 6 from 5 to 8 p.m.), Dec. 9-11 noon to 6 p.m. Free admission. smfa.edu

Everyone knows the Museum of Fine Arts, but did you know the Museum School alumni, faculty, and current students show work every year as a benefit for scholarship students? More than 800 artists will be showing more than 4,000 works of art in all price ranges. So forget that poster on your living room wall. Here’s your chance to own the next Van Gogh or Degas.

· Timothy Kadish, in the fifth-year program at SMFA, will be selling about a dozen of his oil and mixed-media paintings, including ‘‘Improved Possibility.’’ ‘‘Legos had an effect on me as a child,’’ says Kadish, who sees the way they layer and stack ‘‘like sedimentary layers’’ as an influence on the way he paints.

· Courtney Nimura’s larger-than-life-size C-Print series, ‘‘The Jet Effect,’’ features views from an airplane window. ‘‘I’ve always been drawn to images — of sky, horizon, ocean, the color blue — monumental entities, the beautiful and terrifying happening at the same time,’’ Nimura says. These stunning color photos may help you overcome your fear of flying once and for all.

· Squares and grids become the still-life subjects of Nancy Simonds’s elegant paintings on paper. ‘‘The grid is a vehicle for using beautiful color. I want to do work that’s transcendently ordered and anti-chaos, paired down like a haiku,’’ says Simonds, who graduated from the school in 1978 and has exhibited at the December Sale for years. ‘‘This is an exhilarating show where art is available that’s not at regular gallery venues. It gets more vibrant every year.’’

Harvard Square Holiday Craft Fairs

First Parish Unitarian Church, corner of Church Street and Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. Dec. 2-3, 9-10, 15-17, and 19-23. Mon-Fri: 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Sat: 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sun: noon-6 p.m.

Now celebrating its 21st year in Cambridge, this ‘‘original rock ’n’ roll holiday fair’’ is the place to find affordable gifts that range from funky to hip to classic. If you’re wondering where the old Harvard Square has gone, you’ll find it here amid dedicated artisans selling everything from jewelry to pottery to tie-dyed clothing and fleece. Grab a vegetarian sandwich or homemade soup at the cafe.

· Raelinda Woad’s jewelry and ornaments contain surprises. Originally a storyteller, Woad began designing miniature books as pins and necklaces. With her new series, ‘‘Blessing Holders,’’ you can write your own stories and keep them inside an antique brass and rice-paper wing. ‘‘I like the idea of a wing being a book,’’ said Woad. We do, too.

· Science may be an unusual background for a weaver, but Dena Gartenstein doesn’t think so. She started weaving 21 years ago and transferred her experience in physics and optics into fabrics and color. Look for her hand-woven and sewn jewel-toned line of rayon chenille hats, scarves, and jackets.

· Cartoonist Craig Swanson admits to having an ‘‘esoteric sense of humor,’’ which you might expect from someone with a master’s degree in artificial intelligence and 3D animation. You can see his work on T-shirts, cards, calendars, and books. A prolific artist who can’t stop drawing, Swanson is also podcasting stories, available on CD.

Ceramics Program Holiday Show and Sale

Office for the Arts at Harvard, 219 Western Ave., Boston. 617-495-8680. Opening: Dec. 14 from 3 to 8 p.m., Dec. 15-17 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free admission.fas.harvard.edu/ceramics

This largest ceramic show in New England is so popular that opening-night early birds form a line that stretches across the parking lot. This year, close to 60 potters and sculptors — all affiliated with Harvard’s program as visiting artists, teachers, independent study, and undergraduate students — will offer a varied selection of contemporary ceramics.

· A biology major in college, Nancy Shatola has been working in clay as a self-described ‘‘neurotic compulsive’’ since 1981. She sees her colorful covered jars as a meld of her interest in art and science. ‘‘Making a lid fit correctly speaks to my scientific background,’’ Shatola says. She divides her time between her job at Children’s Hospital and the Ceramics Studio and spends her two-week vacation glazing and firing pots for this annual sale.

· Meng Zhao, a visiting artist and instructor, creates abstract sculptural forms that reference Chinese scholar rocks and processes in the natural world such as water moving over stones and birds in flight. A native of Hangzhou city in China, Zhao fires his sculptures multiple times using various techniques to create rich and subtle surfaces.

· Porcelain is the material of choice for Mexican architect and professional development student Wendy Aquilar. Look for her square dishes with red and black geometric designs reminiscent of city shadows and architectural forms