THUNDER BAY — The organizer of the Thunder Bay Farmers' Market hopes a fresh start in a new location will rejuvenate the market after a hiatus that's lasted almost three years.
The market is not affiliated with the Thunder Bay Country Market located in the Dove Building at the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition.
The Thunder Bay Farmers' Market operated in Victoriaville from 1989 until 2019.
COVID-19 arrived soon after, and since then the city has decided to demolish Victoriaville.
"Everything has changed in the mall. There's not many businesses left there...so we decided that we needed to move somewhere," says Thunder Bay Farmers' Market volunteer manager Esther Paasolainen.
"We had to find somewhere else to go or stop completely."
The market will resume Friday, Sept. 23 at the North End Recreation Centre on Huron Avenue.
It will then operate every Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Paasolainen said that by 2018 there were only about nine participating vendors at Victoriaville.
Even though the new location is much smaller than the mall, she said there will be a greater variety of vendors, with each offering a different product.
"We've had to change our mode. What we're going to have is artisan vendors, so that there are not two people selling the same thing."
She listed the products of some of the vendors that are already lined up, including:
- fresh produce from a local farmer
- semi-precious jewellery
- knitted clothing
- cupcakes
- soap
- Watkins products
- perogies
- breakfast and lunch items made in the hall kitchen by Kokum's Bannock and Beyond
A dining area will also be set up in the hall.
"We have lots of awesomeness," Paasolainen said, adding that she is still lining up other vendors, including those with produce or plants.
"Those are just the confirmed ones. We're having more than we're interviewing. It's going to be an exciting opening."
Despite the changes it has undergone, the Thunder Bay Farmers' Market still retains the name it had at its inception in 1989.
According to Paasolainen, by definition more than 60 per cent of the vendors in a farmers market must grow, make or bake what they are selling.
Of the 12 confirmed participants to date, only two do not fall into that category, she said.
