After two summers with limited capacity because of COVID-19, organizers are looking to fill Pioneer Park again, and manage Liberty Park’s evening market.
That flexibility will serve Einerson well in what’s promising to be a busy 2022 season for the Downtown Farmers Market. The Gateway space — north of the Olympic Legacy Plaza — hosts about 55 to 60 vendors each week, including Intermountain Gourmet Mushrooms, Hive Mind Apiary, Beehive Cheese, 44 Magnum Beef, and Eats! vegan bakery.
A few weeks ago, though, there was a rare sighting of oranges. “That is the one exception to our rule of a 250-mile radius from Salt Lake City,” Einerson said. “I have a vendor who drives to California, hand-picks in organic orchards, and drives it back. And that’s why he gets to do that, because it’s not commercial. It makes people happy.”
“We’re turning back to full operations, which we haven’t done since 2019. We’ll have the full food fairway, 300 booths. The art and craft market gets to go back normal. It was half the size it’s been in normal years. So it’s going to feel like the old market.” “We did a lot of walkthroughs with them about how many booths we put in the park, how many vendors are there. How they enter and exit the park, how they load in,” she said. “And none of that means anything to the patron experience, but it means everything to our operational experience. I think no matter what happens, it’s going to look a little bit different.”