Wanda Pendergraft was selling fresh fruit and vegetables at a Wednesday evening market last August. It’s still a bit early for local produce, but when Market on Main opens this Saturday there will be locally made crafts, entertainment and possibly wine and bedding plants. (Richard McGuire file photo)
Market on Main kicks off its new season on Saturday in the park next to town hall.
This season marks the 10th year for the popular farmers’ market and a celebration is being planned for July, said Janis St. Louis, chair of Market on Main’s board.
This is also the second year in which alcohol tasting and sales is offered under new provincial liquor laws. Last year several local wineries brought their wines to the market.
“We’ve had good feedback from the wineries that came last year and we have more requesting, so that’s a good thing,” said St. Louis.
This year there is also interest from Dubh Glas Distillery, which has introduced a premium gin called Noteworthy, as well as from some Okanagan craft breweries and cideries.
Market on Main’s board has established a limit of no more than three alcohol vendors at each market, said St. Louis. Vendors will rotate.
The market has focused on smaller wineries that may be off the beaten track and not on the wine tour route in order to give them more exposure.
“They’ve been telling us that it’s been great because people will come and do some tasting and then buy a bottle or two,” she said. “The next thing they know they’ve shown up at their winery and are buying a case.”
This doesn’t happen as much at the market in Penticton, she said, because the wineries aren’t as close to the market.
Unlike other local markets such as the ones in Oliver and Penticton, the Osoyoos Market on Main is a bone fide farmers’ market meeting the criteria of the B.C. Association of Farmers’ Markets, St. Louis said.
This means that everything sold at the Osoyoos market must be grown or made by the people selling it.
“You have to screen people,” she said. “You can’t just set up a tent. We have to look at their goods and jury them and make sure that it meets the criteria.”
The Saturday markets will run from May 16 to Sept. 26, St. Louis said. There will also be Wednesday evening markets next to town hall in July and August only.
“Our vendors have requested that we carry on a little longer this season,” she said.
All markets will feature live music and most of the slots are now booked.
Entertainers this Saturday are Rusty Copeland from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and Tony Zelko from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Kara Burton, who is responsible for signing up vendors, said there are currently 22 vendors approved for the 2015 season.
“This number continues to grow throughout the season,” said Burton. “Last year we got up to 43. The approved vendors are a mix of daily vendors and seasonal vendors.”
Included among these vendors are six wineries, one distillery, three fruit and vegetable sellers, four jewelers, one seller of canned goods and seven artisans selling a variety of products including metal art, crochet, sewing, soap, gourd art and photography.
“We’ve got some new artisans who have applied,” said Burton. “And a lot of our regulars are returning.”
Notable among the new ones is a woman who makes items, including birdhouses, from gourds.
Burton also hopes there will be plants such as bedding plants at the markets before the fruit and vegetable sellers are ready.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
