Seaside Marketplace opens Saturday

PICTOU— The grand opening of the Pictou Seaside Marketplace will take place Saturday.

Located in the Caledonia Curling Club, the marketplace will bring together vendors who offer unique local products as well as rentals that will take people through the town and along its scenic waterfront.

“We have been working on this since the late fall and have worked a long time on getting vendors,” said marketplace owner Andrew Loscher, adding that only two vendors from the former Weekend Market which used to be housed in the curling club will be part of its business vendors line up.

“We have a lot of the big names,” he said. “We have walking tours, kayak and bike rentals and we have Lakenman Farms, Knoydart Farm, Bramble Hill Farms, a local baker, coffee and food will be prepared here. There will be the Nova Scotia Spirit Company, Steinhart Distillery and Uncle Leo’s Brewery.” Loscher said he and co-owner Louise Dixon have been asking people for months what they want to see in the market and, for the most part, they have wishes covered.

“One thing we have been hearing a lot is the farm stuff,” he said. “People want to see produce come into town.”

He said new painting by the curling club and some landscaping done by the town on the front of the building has given the entire business venture a fresh feel he hopes will entice residents and tourists to come inside for a visit. The marketplace will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 pm. and 4 to 8 p.m. The hour gap is to allow some vendors to close their booths so the business can provide a smaller marketplace for the evening hours. He hopes this give tourists an opportunity to purchase some local goods and tour the town in the evening. It will also be open Thursdays and Fridays noon to 8 p.m.

The Marketplace, which will employ five people besides Loscher and Dixon, will be open Thursday to Sundays until Sept. 16.