It’s one of the only places in Saskatoon where hundreds gather every week during the summer.
The Saskatoon Farmers’ Market located in River Landing is a social, cultural and commercial hub in the city and on Saturday, people celebrated its 41st anniversary.
“It’s just great to support local business. All of our vendors have to make it, bake it or grow it so our customers are getting the best quality possible,” explained Jen McDougall, marketing manager at the Farmers’ Market.
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The market started in 1975 as a member owned non-profit cooperative outside of the library and moved to its current location in 2007.
“It’s crazy how much it’s grown. We started with just over 50 vendors outside the library and now we’re close to 200,” McDougall said.
“The idea of putting it in Riversdale was to rejuvenate the area and really it has. More and more people keep coming here and it’s just been super successful,” said Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison.
Atchison cut the anniversary cake and participated in a corn shucking competition, placing second.
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Many founding families are among the vendors including Audrey Simpkins. She and her late husband joined the committee 41 years ago, but didn’t start selling until the following year.
“When it first started there was over 200 members, but they didn’t all participate so we just had enough to set up in the summer on the street,” Simpkins explained.
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Now the market not only fills an entire building, but spills onto the streets.
“I come almost every week so you get to know people and you develop a better relationship with where your food comes from,” Sandra Fraser said.
As popularity grows, the market is looking to expand its hours into the evening and have an additional 200 parking stalls available at the Remai Modern Art Gallery of Saskatchewan.