The Penticton Farmers Market opens for the season this Saturday, April 15 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
With more than 40 “make it, bake it, grow it” vendors to start, the market will be in full swing in May or June.
At this time of the year, there are dried veggies, fruit leather, micro greens, overwinter leeks and radishes.
“We have vendors who do unique preserves and jams, candles, soaps, spirits, kettle corn, Indo-Canadian food, falafel, hummus, eggs, meats, cards, pastries, fresh baked breads, baked goods, perogies, salmon. We will have soon soups, coffee, dumplings, balsamic vinegar, stained glass and fruit in season. There is so much to our market that it is hard to name everything,” said market manager Linda Van Alphen last year.
Van Alphen was in front of Penticton City council last week asking for the city to make the farmers’ market a priority tenant in the 100 block.
“The Penticton Farmers’ Market hosts amazing vendors who attract close to 10,000 people each and every Saturday,” the market, which says it generates around $2 million in vendor sales every year, writes in a presentation to council.
The market manager said data shows the farmers’ market as a “major economic driver, food-security hub, and a destination tourist attraction.”
READ MORE: Penticton Farmers’ Market asks to be ‘priority tenant’ of Main Street’s 100-block
The Penticton Farmers Market, which is separate from the Community Market, will go every Saturday straight through to the end of October from 8:30 - 1 p.m.
The 100-block of Main Street will remain closed each Saturday until 2 p.m. Pay parking is in effect in downtown.
The Downtown Penticton Business Improvement Association is offering free two-hour parking in the Braeburn lot at 200 Block Backstreet Blvd. until April 30.
The Farmers’ Market has been operating in downtown Penticton since 1991.
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