The Farmers’ Markets in Prince Edward Island’s two cities are moving back indoors.
The Summerside market, which is located in the basement of the Holman building on Water Street, will be the first to move indoors on Saturday, Sept. 19. The Charlottetown Farmers’ Market
Co-op, located on Belvedere Avenue, is currently undergoing renovations, and market manager Bernie Plourde says the best projection for moving inside is mid-October.
Both markets have been held outdoors due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but the weather will soon come into play.
“Our outdoor market, we are doing very well, knock on wood, with every Saturday we’ve had nice weather,” said Plourde. “We have been fortunate enough to operate outdoors with probably 75 per cent of our vendors.
“September is still looking nice, so we are hoping that a little before or after Thanksgiving we will be able to be indoors, especially with the cold weather around the corner. We definitely need to be indoors by the end of October.”
Some changes
The Summerside market had between 20 and 22 vendors outside. Manager Don MacDonald said in the summer there are normally between 40 and 42 vendors, and it’s looking like there will be between 32 and 35 set up indoors on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“There is a lot of work to do yet before we get in, but we will be in,” said MacDonald.
Patrons will notice some changes as Summerside moves back indoors. Masks or shields will be mandatory for everyone inside and vendors will be behind barriers.
As of now, capacity is limited to 50 people, which may create wait times to enter. To help with efficiency, vendors are happy to take pre-orders. In addition, indoor traffic will be one way, and patrons are asked to follow the signs.
MacDonald is optimistic the number of vendors will grow indoors.
“There are new applications of people wanting to come in that have to be looked at,” he said.
