As summer hits the City, market vendors put up their booths for the seventh season of Red Deer’s ATB Downtown Market.

There are plenty of vendors to enjoy at the Downtown Market ranging from meat and produce to candles and fermented tea, organizers say.

“We are a certified farmers’ market,” said Tyler Bowman, the special events coordinator for the Downtown Business Association and manager of the Downtown Market. “So all of our vendors have to make-it, bake-it or grow-it themselves.”

No two booths are the same at this market as each vendor has a unique product and such as Cutie Pies, Untamed Feasts, and Nixon Honey.

Because the market is held on a public street it is hard to keep track of how many patrons go to the market versus regular pedestrians, but Bowman said usually a few thousand people attend and the vendors find it comparable to other markets they’ve been a part of.

Every year the market runs from the first Wednesday of June to the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

“This year has been really good,” Bowman said. “We’ve only had one overcast day that deterred some people from coming down but overall we’re just getting busier and busier.”

According to Bowman, most attendees of the market go for the abundance of fresh produce and consumable products.

“People like that our market is a little bit more relaxed,” said Bowman. “There’s room to browse, meet our vendors and get to know them and the products they’re buying.”

Local not-for-profits will soon be welcomed to join the market and can join once during the season as Bowman said the market is now taking requests for use of the community tent.

Bowman said if anyone is interested in becoming a vendor they can go online and fill out the application at www.downtownmarket.ca

The market runs every Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., rain or shine.

“Come and experience a true farmers’ market,” said Bowman

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