Happy 30th birthday to the Comox Valley Farmer’s Market! It’s also the market’s champagne birthday—the big celebration will take place this Saturday, April 30th.
And no birthday celebration is complete without cake. Festivities start this Saturday at 10:30. There will be special guests, music, and some of the market’s original vendors. Oh yeah, and also cake.
Date: Saturday, April 30th (and every Saturday for the summer, though without cake)
Time: 9am to 1pm (cake at 10:30)
Place: Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds
Twila Skinner is the manager of the Comox Valley Farmer’s Market. She’s planning Saturday’s big event. She told the Comox Valley Record that some of the COVID protections from the past two years turned out to be good for folks.
Since COVID, vendor tables have been set up further apart. It gives shoppers a bit more wiggle room. It’s also helpful for folks with strollers and for everyone when the weather gets hot.
The Market asks visitors to leave the pooches at home, though (not in the car!).
What can you find at the market? Local food. And lots of it.
“We’re a food-first, farmer-first farmers’ market,” Skinner told the Comox Valley Record. So while you might not find many paintings or jewellery, you’ll find fresh vegetables, bread and baked sweet treats, jams, meat, and meals you can eat right there.
And you know what’s amazing? Skinner says, “90% of what you’ll find at the market is from within 20 kilometres of the market.”
Now that’s what we call local!
Folks have been coming for 30 years for that local food. It’s delicious and it tastes like home. But Skinner says the market is more than just a grocery store.
“It’s also a place for connecting with community.”
Connecting with our neighbours has been tougher to do these past few years. But hey, if you come to the market this Saturday, you might see some folks you haven’t seen in a while.
At the very least, you’ll eat something delicious. Everyone wins.
