Final farmers’ market of season set for Saturday

Market to feature Halloween theme

Saturday marks the last day of the season for Exhibition Park’s Saturday Farmers’ Market. This year, the market kicked off on May 14 and will wrap up just a few days before Halloween.

“This is our last market for our spring, summer and fall and even though it doesn’t fall on Halloween, we’re theming it for a Halloween market,” said Doug Kryzanowski, Exhibition Park’s marketing manager.

There will be fun for the entire family, he explained. The market will feature a “Candy and Creepy Craft Corner,” a face painting station, Halloween games with prizes, a “Wrap Your Mummy" activity at 11 a.m. and a costume contest for the best adult costume at noon.

“We have a lot of fun not just for mom, dad, grandpa and grandma, but also for the kids, too.”

The successful season can be attributed to many factors, but Kryzanowski feels the consumers’ desire to know where their food is coming from is a driving force.

“People will pay a little more to know that,” he said. “I think that’s the success of the markets right across Canada and North America.”

The indoor market at Exhibition Park runs for six months.

“Traditionally, we open the weekend before the long weekend in May and we start small because there’s not a lot of food that’s coming out of the ground yet,” said Kryzanowski, adding it begins in the Exhibition’s west pavilion.

There’s anywhere from 50 to 75 vendors who participate during the start of the season, he said. Come mid-June, the market gets moved into the north pavilion, where there may be as many as 175 vendors.

However, not all vendors participate in each market, said Kryzanowski. Some are part-time or casual, while others, like Broxburn Farms and the Hutterite Brethren, participate in the market full-time.

“So every weekend is a different variety,” he said.

This Saturday, however, will be spookier than most. There is no admission fee to the Farmers’ Market Halloween, which runs from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.