GREAT FALLS — Plans are in motion to bring back the Great Falls Farmer's Market for 2021 after last year's season was canceled because of the pandemic.
Some details are still being worked out as of Monday, but the market is scheduled to begin the first weekend in June.
There will be a limit of 100 vendors to begin in order to try to spread people out as much as possible. Farmers Market staff are working with the county health department to develop the plan for the season. Their Facebook page noted: "It may not be quite the same as previous years but please know we are doing all we can to bring you an amazing year."
"We actually already met with the health department last week to find out exactly what, if anything, we need to do for requirements. If the mask mandate is lifted, we would not require people to wear masks. Of course, if they wanted to they'd be more than welcome to,” said Michele Wynn, Farmer’s Market manager.
The market’s annual spring meeting will be held April 17 at the Civic Center in downtown Great Falls, during which staff will discuss how to choose which vendors get spots if more than 100 vendors apply.
Wynn said in a comment on the KRTV Facebook page:
We are excited to have our market again this year . The limit in vendors, in the beginning, is to allow for social distancing and not have our vendors so cramped together .As the summer progresses, and if there are no mandates in place by the city / health dept, we plan on increasing our vendor numbers . Every one of our vendors are important to us and we are dedicated to making this year a safe and enjoyable one . Moving our market to another area is not an option , so we have to work with the area we have . It takes a lot of man power and planning to have our weekly market with the amount of vendors we usually have (average 130) and we’re hoping to be back at that point again.
Wynn said the goal is to have applications available May 1 and have them all received by mid-May. For more information, click here to visit the website.
