DOWNTOWN DELIGHTS
Farmers market returns
In its inaugural weekend of the season, hundreds of shoppers converged on Pelissier Street on Saturday for a bigger and better Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market, with everything on offer from produce and perogies to fresh fish and foot massages.
“It gets bigger and busier every year,” Rob Myers of Little Foot Foods said while manning several pans of sizzling perogies. “It’s amazing. So many people can move around and nobody is cramped.” Myers has been coming to the market for four years and said the location on Pelissier between Wyandotte and Park streets gives the market a big city feel like you would experience in Toronto or Vancouver.
The market usually attracts about 20 vendors on opening day but there were at least 35 hawking various products to kick off this season, said market general manager Steve Green. He expected the number of vendors to swell to 55 and more as the season progresses, especially around harvest time. “We’ve been jammed all day. It’s a beautiful day,” said Green. “We’ve got all kinds of food from around the world and we’re just down here having a great time.” Saturday marked the first time that Nathan and Natasha Chartos of Floramere Flowers made the trek to the downtown bazaar from their farm in Ruthven. They were impressed with the crowds and said they will definitely be back. “It’s great,” said Natasha. “We’ve done really well.” Claudio Adragna of Dockside Fisheries has been hawking fish at the market for eight years and said this opening day was definitely one of the busiest. He sold out of fresh perch and pickerel from Lake Erie along with some rainbow trout from Georgian Bay.
The market has access to hydro boxes this year to provide a more reliable source of power, which allows more vendors to bring in freezers and powered coolers. There was also live music and a free kid zone for children. Sarah Cipkar, of the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative which helps run the market, said the street was so crowded in the early going that organizers fretted about congestion.
“It was a very successful day and it’s going to be a great year,” she said.
The market runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday until Oct. 6.
We’ve got all kindsoffood from around the world and we’re just down herehavinga greattime.