Penticton Farmers’ Market moving indoors

This Saturday (Oct. 27) marks the last outdoor Farmer’s Market of the season in Penticton, though there are still a few indoor markets before the end of the year.

“We had a really good season and it was awesome to end with the tourism award,” said market manager Erin Trainer, referring to the Tourism Excellence Award the Penticton Farmer’s Market recently won at the chamber of commerce’s annual business excellence awards.

Related: Business excellence awards honour community builders

This year, one of the highlights was being able to stay in the market’s traditional home in the 100-block of Main Street.

“The last couple of years we’ve had to move to the 500 and 600 block several times. It was nice to just be in our usual spot and find our groove,” said Trainer, adding there was an average of 70 to 80 vendors during the peak season, including some new ones like Little Fork Ranch.

“It’s a young family and they came from Rock Creek every Saturday to sell meat,” said Trainor. “We are still getting new, young families who are farmers applying. That’s the good part, that people are still wanting to do farming.”

Related: Farmers’ Market back in business for another season

Some of the weekends this summer brought heavy smoke, especially the August long weekend when the Super League Triathlon was expected to run.

“That was the smokiest, that was when the (air quality health index) rating was off the chart. It was awful, yet all of the vendors reported really good sales. I don’t know why that happened, but it didn’t really seem to affect our markets,” said Trainer. “We had considered cancelling it, but that is the livelihood for all those farmers. We had to plough through and it was worth it for sure.”

A series of indoor winter markets begins on Nov. 10 at the Shatford Centre from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and run every two weeks: Nov. 24, Dec. 8 and a final one, just before Christmas on Dec. 22.

“We’re hoping that people will buy all of their stuff for their Christmas dinners on the 22nd,” said Trainer. “It is just more of an intimate setting. We get mostly locals coming and the people that do come, they come specifically to buy; They come with their grocery lists.”

Trainer said farmers participating in the indoor markets will have lots of winter vegetables, preserves, eggs, and much more. There will also be baking, crafts and liquor tastings.

The Penticton Farmers’ Market is one of the longest running in B.C., with 2018 being its 28th season. Trainer thinks that long-term success is tied in with the market’s requirements that all the vendors make, bake or grow their own products, and be on hand to sell directly to the customers.

“I think that is what people really like because we are so used to going to big box stores where we don’t really have a connection with what we buy. I think people are looking for that,” she said. “I think that is why we have such a great market with such a high caliber of vendors.”