Market plans more food and fun for third year
The Village Market is nearing the end of its second season, and its organiser and stallholders are hoping to build on the increasingly popular Saturday event.
Foot traffic and the number of regular stallholders are slowly growing, as are casual attendees with clothes, toys, and interesting treasures from their back shed.
The local produce stand, run by Peter Pontier and Helping Hands, is attracting more regular suppliers—both professional growers and home gardeners offloading their surplus, and the hunt is also on for a bakery supplier and other food vendors.
Market profits have been contributed toward the local schools speech competitions, and to help Lydia Pomeroy attend the National Speech Competition in Rotorua. There are plans to set up an annual scholarship to assist a student in tertiary studies. A new community table has also been introduced, where the sales proceeds of any items donated each Saturday by stallholders and the public are given to a different local charity or cause. The proceeds from last week went to RDA.
Although the market’s summer peak is over, planning is under way to increase community participation next season (starting Labour Weekend), and an entertainment committee is already working on ideas for a covered central performance space, guest musicians and other acts, competitions, art and craft demonstrations, and activities for visiting children. There will also be more seasonal fun, such as apple bobbing.
Three years ago organiser Shirley Ford saw the benefits of a bigger, more central market, such as those increasing in popularity and number in New Zealand and overseas.
“Up and down the country, in the smaller towns especially, they saw their market as an unique showcase for local talent, produce and industry, and the market was invariably a source of much pride to them. As a visitor it was impossible not to be both charmed and impressed; and the more I saw, the more I thought that Golden Bay needed one of these.”
It was no small undertaking, as a suitable site had to be found and council requirements needed to be met. Also, in the past months the market has weathered complaints about loss of parking space in town on Saturday mornings, and opposition over other issues.
Nevertheless, market-goers have responded and, on a fine morning, hundreds of shoppers and browsers wander through the library car park in search of fresh produce, home-made soap, herbal products, seedlings, bargains and surprises.
The final market for this season is on Easter Saturday 11 April and everybody—visitors, performers, bakers, craftspeople, bric-a-brac collectors, hoarders, and anyone who needs a wardrobe, workshop or toybox cleanout—is welcome to come along and make it a festive occasion.
By way of thanks and celebration at the end of another successful season, the Easter Village Market will be free to all stallholders, both casuals and permanents.
Maria Polglase
