On to the Next Season…

Ahhh, the good old days…

Sadly, after weeks and weeks of beautiful weather, our Salem Farmers’ Market has ended its season a little earlier than planned due to a good old-fashioned New England nor’easter. Due to the anticipated rain and wind, we have pre-emptively canceled the final market on Oct. 23 for the safety of our vendors and customers.

But what a tremendous season it’s been!  We’ve helped over 30 small, local businesses connect face-to-face with their customers on a weekly basis.  We welcomed an average of more than 2,100 visitors every week for 18 weeks.  Word of mouth is that sales were generally up from last year, and many weeks saw vendors completely sold out of their most popular items.  Over 20 local nonprofits were able to share their message with the community – from the Plummer Home to the Phillips House Museum to  No Place for Hate.  And hopefully, you all tried something new – a new vegetable, a new recipe, or maybe even a whole new way of shopping.

We have a lot of people to thank for the success of this season.  Without our amazing vendors and their wonderful products, there would be no market.  Without the countless volunteers (especially our rockstar Farmers’ Market committee) who lug tables, manage our social media, or greet our customers, there would be no market.  Without our sponsors, including Salem Five Bank, Solarize Salem, Next Step Living, and Salem Chiropractic, and all our partners, like the City of Salem, Mass in Motion, Salem Food Tours, and the Salem Chamber of Commerce, there would be no market.  And of course, without all of YOU there would be no market!

Before we call this season “over”, please tell us a little more about you and what you’d like to see at the market.

But don’t despair – the Salem Main Streets will be bringing Salem Winter Market will be back again this year!  Starting on November 13 and ending December 18, we will be down on Artists’ Row every Thursday except Thanksgiving from 3 pm to 7 pm.  We’ll have some exciting new vendors, especially a few new craft vendors, but we’ll also welcome back a number of your Farmers’ Market favorites – including, but not limited to, Grant Family Farm, Jodi Bee Bakes, Salem Spice, Salem Soapworks, Shine Jewelry/Heritage Handmade, Far From the Tree Cider, and Valicenti Organico.  The final list of vendors will be posted within the week on www.salemfarmersmarket.org.

THANK YOU FOR A GREAT SEASON!!!