Nelson Market bounces back
For the first time in months, the sounds of stallholders and customers filled Montgomery Square as the Nelson Market reopened.
Saturday marked the first day the market had been open since March 14, when Covid-19 caused the shut down of the Nelson institution.
Nelson Market owner Nita Knight said it was great to see the crowds come back to the square.
‘‘It’s fantastic, I love it. It’s a big family, there’s a lot of connections here people have with each other, and that we have with the stallholders.’’
Knight said they had waited until the Level 1 announcement before considering reopening the market, with the Level 2 restrictions making it too difficult to operate normally.
She said despite the quick turnaround there had been a good turnout of both stallholders and customers. There was, however, a slightly different look to the market compared to March, with some new stalls appearing and some familiar ones absent.
Knight said there were a few stallholders who hadn’t managed to make it through to the other side of the lockdown.
‘‘People have had time to consider their lives and their lifestyles, some people have been retiring. ‘‘[Others] have had to find other jobs, and some will not be coming back – we have new people coming in to continue on though.’’
Woodworker Nigel Heath was one of the stallholders who returned to the market on Saturday with his Wood U Like stall. ‘‘It’s been a long time,’’ Heath said.
‘‘It’s great to be back to support the market and get things going again, when you’re away you miss the other stallholders and the customers.’’
Heath said while the temporary loss of the market had taken a big chunk of their sales away, there had also been some silver linings as well.
He said the lockdown had given him the opportunity to do some things he would not ordinarily have time to do, such as developing and testing new products and working on the business’s website.
Southland-based piano busker AJ Hickling and partner Freja Dixon were at the market to perform a pop-up concert.
Dixon said they had been on the road around the South Island since the lockdown was lifted.
‘‘We’ve been seeing it in increments coming alive again, this is definitely the busiest gathering we’ve been to since then – it’s lovely.’’
Dixon said one thing she would miss about lockdown was the slower, simpler pace of life.
‘‘The modern routine is very demanding, very fast, when you take that away it’s beautiful.
‘‘We were forced to slow down and tune in with family, so for us it was wonderful.’’