Saturday’s heavy rains didn’t dampen the spirits of folks celebrating the Royal City Farmers Market’s move to uptown New West.
Royal City Farmers Market kicked off its winter season at a brand new location on Belmont Street (just off of Sixth Street.) The Uptown New Westminster Business Association provided a marquee tent, which helped shelter shoppers and vendors from Saturday’s heavy rainfall.
"They came in droves," operations manager Melissa Maltais told the Record. "It was a really great day."
Armed with umbrellas, shoppers were able to sip hot apple cider, enjoy some musical entertainment from Quayside Voices and shop from vendors selling everything from apples to brussels sprouts to sausages. A covered seating area provided a place where market goers could enjoy a bite to eat from on-site food trucks or vendors.
While Royal City Farmers Market would be nice to have a few sunny days, Maltais was amazed by the number of people who attended the market in spite of the heavy rains.
“It showed how supportive the community is of our new location,” she said. “Our vendors tell me that they saw a lot of new customers, as well as returning customers. A lot of the new ones were just so excited to have that access to the market. There was quite a few seniors from our seniors’ shuttle program. They are now within walking distance.”
Maltais’s faith in the community translated into support from vendors who had signed up for the market.
“None of my vendors cancelled. They knew it was going to be torrential downpours,” she said. “One of them even drove from Cawsten – the one who brought the apples. That’s by Osoyoos. That was the only market she was doing that weekend, but she drove all the way down.”
In past years, Royal City Farmers Market has held its winter market in River Market at the Quay.
“The one big opportunity we have is being able to expand and have more and different vendors,” Maltais said of the new location. “On Saturday we had three new farms that we have never had at our summer market before. We had three new farms, we had Urban Digs come and sell pork products. We don’t have a pork product vendor at our summer market, so it’s a great way for us to expose our community to new vendors and have new vendors come and join us. This is a new testing ground for them, which is exciting for us.”
The Royal City Farmers Market’s next winter market is set for Saturday, Nov. 21 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Belmont Street.
