Farmers return to Lansdowne Park
Christmas event kicks off Sunday, market vendors will stay year-round
When the ribbon is cut at Ottawa’s Farmers’ Christmas Market at Lansdowne Park on Sunday, it will not only be a homecoming celebration complete with local hot apple cider and Christmas goodies, it will mark the start of the first year-round, indoor, producer-based market for Ottawa.
After Sunday, the Christmas Market will run Saturdays and Sundays Dec. 6 and 7, and 13 and 14, then vacate for just three weeks before the farmers’ market reopens Jan. 11 for the first time as a regular indoor winter market.
“For Ottawa-area farmers this is the start of something stable and very big,” said Andy Terauds, president of Ottawa Farmers’ Market. “It will change the way people farm, knowing that they can sell reliably year-round. We’ll start small but grow over the years as the capacity to grow winter crops and store and preserve produce increases.”
The farmers’ market will operate out of the historical Aberdeen Pavilion — affectionately known as the Cattle Castle — until May 1, when it will move outdoors, close to where it operated until three years ago, when it moved to Brewer Park while Lansdowne Park was under redevelopment. Markets will continue in Westboro on Saturdays and Orléans on Fridays. In summer, for the first time, the market will operate at Lansdowne three days a week: Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
“This is a very big step, and it’s taken us nine seasons to get to it,” said Terauds, noting that the Ottawa Farmers’ Market is now the biggest producer-based farmers’ market in Ontario, if not Canada.
Although January markets are expected to be smaller, with 30 to 40 vendors, the Christmas Market will fill the Cattle Castle, with about 120 vendors.
“We have every space filled, which we’ve not done before,” Terauds said. “We’re already having to turn vendors away. It’s going to be an exciting few days.”
The 116-year-old Victorian exhibition hall will be decorated with 25 Christmas trees. Carollers and other musicians will entertain, and vendors will compete for best-decorated stand.
Still, the move is not without worries.
“There are a lot of unknowns and anxiety with any move,” Terauds said. “We’re moving into a space with no visibility from the street and with a big food store between us and Bank Street.”
Parking is a major problem. The farmers’ market was unable to reach a deal with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, so if customers want to park at Lansdowne Park for the farmers’ market, it will be at very limited above-ground metered spots or underground at the regular rate that starts at $3 for the first 30 minutes, with a daily maximum of $16. (Or, if you spend $25 or more at Whole Foods, you can park in the grocery store’s underground parking area free for 90 minutes. The LCBO is expected to offer a similar deal.)
To get around this, Ottawa Farmers’ Market will run free shuttle buses every 20 to 30 minutes from its old location, Brewer Park, where parking is free, and from Carleton University, where it costs $3 a day. Although the Christmas Market will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, the shuttles will start at 7:30 a.m. and go to 6:30 p.m.
The farmers’ market is attempting to at least get a clearly marked ground-level loading zone near the Cattle Castle where people can park for five minutes while dropping off shoppers or picking up produce.
“If someone is going to buy a bushel of tomatoes, they’re not going to haul it out to Bank Street,” Terauds said.
After the opening burlap-ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Sunday, customers at the Christmas Market will be treated to hot apple cider from Hall’s Apple Market of Brockville and Barkley’s Apple Orchard near Morrisburg, as well as apple dumplings from Hearty Bakery; Christmas macaroons from Pretty-Fours, and decorated Christmas cookies from Yummy Cookies.