People will soon have a chance to do some nighttime shopping at the popular Duncan Farmer’s Market.
Janice Roberts, the market’s executive director, told a recent committee of the whole meeting at the Cowichan Valley Regional District that the market will begin a pilot project this year that will see it open the third Thursday evening of each month, from June to November, with 39 spots in City Square.
The dates are June 20, July 18, Aug. 15, Sept. 19, Oct. 17 and Nov. 21.
Currently, the market takes place every Saturday throughout the year in Duncan’s City Square.
“We are very excited about this pilot project and, hopefully, it will be another destination for people to go to downtown,” Roberts said.
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Roberts was in attendance at the meeting with Kate Poirier, the project coordinator with the 2023 BC Farmers’ Market Economic Impact Study which outlines the economic impact of farmers’ markets across the province, including Duncan’s which currently has more than 150 members and 85 full-time vendors.
Poirier said the economic impact of the Duncan Farmers’ Market last year was $5.6 million, with direct sales at the market totalling $3.8 million.
She said 116,963 people visited the market in 2023.
“On an average market day, $78,000 is spent by market shoppers at neighbouring businesses, and $3.9 million is spent in an average year,” Poirier said.
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North Oyster/Diamond director Ben Maartman said he’s pleased with the success of the market and asked what would it take to see it expand further.
Poirier said the Duncan Farmers’ Market is among the eight largest ones in B.C. and research shows that the larger the market, the more people it will attract, so the more a market can expand, the better.
“If a market is popular and it has a lot of people coming to it and a lot of businesses wanting to sell there, you’re cutting yourself short if you’re not allowing the market to take up the space that they’re prepared to use,” she said.
Roberts said current impediments to the growth of the Duncan Farmers’ Market are the lack of power sources and space that’s available.
“We have [vendors] knocking at our door,” she said.
“I have 150 applications for new vendors at the market in a month.”