Columbus Farmers Market organizers hope to expand its purposely-limited 25 vendors sometime this month.
Jacob Hendricks, the market coordinator for the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department, mentioned in May that the market, scaled down because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, would be ramped up slowly throughout the summer to best promote vendor, customer and food safety.
Since June 6, the Saturday market has been in its new location in the Columbus City Hall overflow parking lot along First Street, with vendors spread a good distance apart for safety.
“I’ve been really pleased with the public response so far,” Hendricks said, adding that all vendors and most of the public has been masked. “The community has generally been doing its part or prevent a (virus) spread. We gotten positive feedback on the location change.
“And obviously, the market looks different now. But people seem happy that we still can offer it.”
For now, Hendricks added that expanding the number of vendors “all depends upon what the Governor (Eric Holcomb) is saying, because we’re actually waiting on his declaration of Stage 5 (opening) to see when we can safely bring back a few more of our vendors. But we’re still playing it by ear.”
There have been reports that Stage 5 for Indiana could begin this weekend although an announcement may be forthcoming from Holcomb at a press conference at 2:30 p.m. today.
Hendricks said attendance through the three-and-a-half-hour event generally has included perhaps a couple hundred attendees.
“The numbers obviously are lower than before,” Hendricks said. “But we’re pleased so far with the turnout,” he said.
A few summers ago, when the market was at its peak in the Cummins Inc. parking lot, it featured nearly 100 vendors and crowds estimated at between 1,000 and 2,000 people weekly in July and August. Those markets included live entertainment and more.
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The Columbus Farmers Market is from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturdays behind Columbus City Hall downtown at 123 Washington St.
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