Waking town from winter hibernation
In an effort to wake Riverton from a sleepy winter slumber, two women have organised a midwinter twilight market in the town.
Postmaster Bakery owners Iri Luke and Marleen Adams have organised the twilight market after they ran a similar market at Christmas.
Luke said their intention was to get people out of their pyjamas and out of the house for a night. The market will run on Friday from 5pm to 8pm.
There would be about 36 stalls across four venues in the centre of the town, with live music at three of the venues, Luke said.
There would be 16 stalls in Flecks Hall, eight stands in the Riverton RSA, four stands in the Postmaster Cafe and three organic stalls in the South Coast Environment Centre. Mr Whippy would be coming too, Luke said.
They had filled up their venue space so any other stallholders would be outdoors with the Mr Whippy truck, she said.
The weather was not looking great for the weekend but Luke hoped the forecast was wrong.
Local business had donated several items and vouchers, which they would give away as prizes for people who filled out feedback forms for the event.
Both Luke and Adams moved to Riverton eight years ago. Luke shifted from Hawke’s Bay, and Adams moved from the Nether- lands, and together they run the Postmaster Cafe. It’s not the first time Luke and Adams have tried hosting an event in the seaside town.
The pair organised a midwinter twilight market last year but it was poorly attended because they did not promote it well.
They were then motivated to give their Christmas twilight market a go, which was a success.
‘‘Anything that’s new and exciting, hopefully that will bring the people out.’’