Saturday mornings are about to get even livelier in Petal, with the addition of a new farmers market in the downtown area.
Valerie Wilson, executive director of the Petal Area Chamber of Commerce, said the market will run from 9 a.m.-noon the third Saturday of every month at 126 East Central Ave., near Grand Central Outfitters. If all goes according to plan, the market will tentatively open on April 21 and run until September.
“I think people are getting so much more health conscious,” Wilson said. “They want to know that they’re getting fresh produce that’s grown locally, and they want to support our local farmers.
“And it’s just fun to go to a farmers market and see what’s there and see what other kind of attractions are there. Really, it’s a great match for Petal, especially on Saturday mornings when people are out and about.”
In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, the market will offer crabs, baked goods and homemade items like soap, candles, cheese and bread. Weekly activities also will be showcased, including farm animals and a kids’ jump.
Vendors will be charged a $5 fee to set up their wares.
“We’ll have an assortment of vendors down there, and we are actively recruiting vendors to come,” Wilson said.
Although city officials are aiming for the April 21 opening, the exact date will depend on when the farmers’ produce comes in.
“It’s a little bit of a cooler spring, we’ve had a lot of rain, and of course we had the snow,” Wilson said. “So we’re thinking that some of the crops won’t be coming in as soon as they normally do.
“We want to make sure we have a variety of produce down there when we open.”
Wilson said the city’s Parks and Recreation Department had hosted farmers markets in the past, but the location wasn’t exactly ideal.
“We feel that the problem with that was, it was behind the civic center, and unless you knew it was there, you didn’t see it,” she said. “We hope that this location is going to be so much more visible that people are just going to stop.
“And of course, our other goal for this is to draw traffic to downtown Petal. We want people to have a reason, a purpose, to go to downtown Petal and do business there. And hopefully, while they’re there, they’ll visit some of our other retailers in the area and support the downtown area.”
Mayor Hal Marx said he’s also excited about the location of the new market.
“I am happy that we are once again going to offer citizens in Petal the chance to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, along with assorted other items, right here in our city,” he said. “We tried having one a couple of years ago, but participation was not what we hoped. I think this new location will be better suited for a farmers market.”
