Opening Day Ceremonies
Market Manager Jen Arbo
Opening market was tonnes of fun with faces new and old. The market is a community and it was nice to get back to it – I didn’t realize how much I missed it over the winter until I was there, unlocking the portable toilet and pointing out stall spaces. As Chris Bodnar, from Glen Valley Organic Farm put it, “it’s like the first day back at school.”
Set up went off more or less hitch free, except next time, we’ll check the brand new tent before market day to make sure it’s fully assembled – trying to figure that out in the pouring rain was not particularly fun. Rays of sunshine Korki the Clown and Allyson Grant were there to provide smiles and giggles to kids of all ages. Market favourite Ron Ulrich with his silky, catchy cover songs stood tall during the rain and sang those cloudy skies away.
To kick things off, in true New Westminster fashion, we blew off a cannon from our friends at the Seymour Artillery Historical Association. As market manager, it’s not often I get to call the non-emergency police line and tell them to “be aware we’re blowing off cannons up here at the market and please don’t panic.” Kind of fun, really.
Here’s how the opening went down:
RCFM Opening Day from Royal City Farmers Market on Vimeo.
The rain eventually let up around 4 and shoppers started trickling in, having been scared off by the torrential downpours at the start. After my market manager duties were completed, I barely had time to get my shopping in.
My haul included feta and butter from new vendor Farmhouse Natural Cheese, my favourite Raclette from Little Qualicum Cheeseworks (oh cheese, you are my kryptonite!), organic frozen blueberries from Forstbauer Natural Food Farm, brownies and buttertarts from Blackberry Hill, the sweetest and most lovely carrots from Nature Village, organic cherry tomatoes that look like little pears from Ceylddon Farms, a loaf of sourdough from A Bread Affair, coveted spot prawns from Mary-Anne at Fresh Off the Boat, and a fresh jar of wildflower honey from Liz at Jane’s Honeybees – good timing too, since I polished off the last of my jar from Winter Market only the day before. I also grabbed a Sweet Chili Lime Hummus from Bean Boy and some crisps – an awesome new product – from Momma Nellie’s Goodies for a dinner party I’m headed to this weekend.
Ah… the market. L’amour. What was in your tote? Tell us in the comments!
So sad, too bad. The chances of me attending the Market held on Thursdays are slim to none. I commute to Vancouver to work and simply won’t be “racing” back to New Westminster at the end of the day to shop the Market. It is very inconvenient. I know other people who share same thoughts and also don’t attend but happily we are not a majority. I enjoyed the Winter Market held on Saturdays on Carnarvon Street and I hope it will be held again next winter. Until then, have a great summer.
LOVE the New Westminster Farmer’s Market! We need something like this here and Thursdays work for me. We go every week religiously, rain or shine. Was great this year as I have 5 month old twin boys that went to their first Farmer’s Market outing!
I bought a Baby Brie from Farmhouse Natural Cheese (awesome – my new favorite cheese vendor!), a colourful variety of six different kinds of cherry tomatoes from Ceylddon Farms, sausages infused with Red Devil Ale from Beer Brats, and some delicious goodies – a brownie, a vanilla cupcake and a cinnamon bun from Blackberry Hill (yum!) .
Can’t wait til next week to see what I get then!!
Hi Brenda! We are sorry you can’t make it! The reason that RCFM was scheduled for a mid week market, was to ensure that some of the high quality vendors you would see at weekend markets could come. There’s a bit of a circuit, if you will, of vendors. And in order to bring New West the best, a mid week market was the way to go.
It felt great to be back at the Farmers Market! Like you, Jen, I didn’t realize how much I had missed it.
We left with fresh, local produce (they don’t complain if you stuff the bag *really* full) and meat, and have been having healthy feasts since then.
Thursdays really work for us. Like last year, we’ll probably only miss one or two markets this summer.
Harry.
The best thing about the “circuit vendor” thing is that if you want to support those vendors, you can find them at other markets, at times that are more convenient for you. The Burnaby Market at Deer Lake is Saturdays and I remember there being a lot of the same vendors as at RCFM (last year, anyway)
What did we buy…eggs, bacon, ground pork, beer brats (NOM!) and chipotle hummus. (Wow, heavy on the protein! Maybe this week I’ll get some vegetables!) And two spectacular balloon creations by Korki the Clown.
I love about the market how easy-going and friendly everyone is. Kudos to the organizers for creating not just a marketplace but an atmosphere.