Organizers of the downtown Columbus Farmers Market are preparing for a socially distanced May 8 opening with masks along First Street behind City Hall, which is at 123 Washington St.
The market will run through Sept. 18 with the same time of 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and a general rain-or-shine approach.
They’re hoping to have more than 50 vendors to begin, and they say there is room for more. Vendors sign-ups continue through April 1.
The market opened last season amid the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic with about 25 vendors and gradually grew from there. It closed in September with more than 50 vendors and averaged 400 to 500 visitors weekly, according organizers.
“That was good,” said market coordinator Teresa Fischer. “But I think that the market was a little different last year. It wasn’t as much a matter of stopping, lingering and visiting for most people. There was more a sense of get your stuff and go.”
Part of that could have been because there were fewer ready-made food vendors, Fischer said.
Jacob Hendricks of the Columbus Parks Department that presents the market added that the number of vendors can be in the range of late last summer’s totals “as long as (COVID-19) numbers are trending in the right direction. But the No. 1 concern is everyone’s safety.”
Fischer said she is hoping that some veteran vendors who were not a part of last year’s Saturday morning gatherings will return this spring and summer. She said there is room for about 60 total vendors, even with extra distance between vendor booths.
“Toward the end of the market last year with the drought, we did lose some farmers,” Fischer said. “Mother Nature becomes a big factor at the market.”
Customer feedback was strongly in favor of the Second Street location rather than the previous one at 501 Brown St., Fischer said. Organizers said they hope to advertise and promote the market more this year as long as local health guidelines allow for larger crowds.
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What: Columbus Farmers Market, featuring everything from produce to ready-made food to plants and more.
When: Beginning Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. May 8 rain or shine.
Where: Second Street parking lot behind City Hall at 123 Washington St.
Information: columbusfarmersmarket.org
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