New Management Prepares for 2016 Farmers Market Ogden
Mar 10, 2016 12:48PM ● By Bryan Scott
By Rachel Hall | [email protected]
Ogden - Family-friendly activities, live entertainment, local artists and fresh produce attract visitors to farmers markets in towns all over the country. Farmers Market Ogden will open June 27 through Sept. 17 under a new management team – the Ogden Downtown Alliance – and will bring marked improvements for vendors and visitors.
“We presented to the city the vision for what the market could be,” Kim Bowsher, president of kbENT, LLC, said. “It’s a reconfigured footprint of the market. It’s a straight line down 25th Street.”
Added green space, live entertainment and artistic elements are lined up for the 2016 market, based off of feedback from area residents who enjoy shopping and hanging out at the farmers market on Saturdays.
“This is a conversation starter for what our community needs and wants. Beyond food, it creates a canvas for us to work with community development,” Bowsher said. “We want the market to reflect what people are asking for downtown. I would hope they would feel comfortable sharing their thoughts with us.”
A place where families and individuals feel safe to gather in the community is just one way that the market has been an asset to the community. And while there is a new management team, Bowsher indicated that there is no intention to completely start from scratch, but rather to build on the past history and past conversation of the market.
“[We want to] be able to grow and develop at the same pace the community is growing,” she said.
Notable changes for this year include an opportunity for weekly vendors to register for a space online. Previously, these vendors would show up and wait in line on a Saturday morning. Online registration will reduce the amount of waiting time for the weekly vendors, who are still able to show up on a Saturday morning for a spot – but without a guarantee to get a placement.
“We are capping the number of weekly vendors this year,” Bowsher said.
Seasonal vendors are asked to also register online by April 15 and can find the guidelines and process on the website.
Visit www.farmersmarketogden.com for more information, including how to register as a vendor. Interested artists, musicians and vendors can also follow the farmers market on Facebook at www.facebook.com/farmersmarketogden.
Opportunities for community engagement and sponsorship exist. More details are available by contacting [email protected]
