After a five-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Downtown Winnipeg Farmers’ Market returned to offer local vegetables, baked goods, crafts and much more Thursday.
“Happy to be back downtown,” said vendor Arielle Decraene, retail manager with Glenlea Greenhouses.
“There was a bit of a stressful couple of weeks with the COVID, and if we were going to be (able to) open our retail business as well as getting to go to farmers markets.”
The Downtown Winnipeg BIZ intends to keep the market running every Thursday between 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. at True North Square (242 Hargrave St.) until Sept. 24, albeit with several health precautions in place.
The booths are spread at least six feet apart, directional markers keep traffic flowing in one direction, there’s a pop-up handwashing station and organizers are nearby to remind people to distance if it begins to get crowded.
For food vendors specifically there is another major change.
“We’re not allowed to do samples of the food,” said Mandy McIvor, a sales associate with Kookum’s Pantry.
“We’re still allowed to have our bakers make our good baked quality goods, but the only problem is the sampling.”
However, several customers Global News spoke to didn’t seem to mind, saying they were just happy to come grab some fresh produce on their lunch break.
“We have lots of vendors who make, bake, grow all their stuff,” said Lindsay Grieve, an event coordinator with the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ.
“We have about 15 vendors today, so we’re keeping it small, keeping it safe.”
All the details about vendor lists are posted to the farmers’ market’s Facebook page.
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