Nicola Valley Farmers Market returns for the summer

MERRITT – The Nicola Valley Farmers Market has returned for another season.

“We look forward to seeing you guys there,” said Brooke-Lynn Rankin, President of the Nicola Valley Farmers Market. “I’ve been a part of the farmers market for four seasons, so it has just been cool seeing the whole thing continue to grow and I know that this year is going to be another really successful one for all of the vendors and people involved.”

The first market of the year took place on Saturday, May 13, and Rankin said she was thrilled to be back.

“It was amazing, we had a lot of vendors showing up, lots of people from the town coming through as well. It’s just a really nice space to be in, I think the vendors really enjoyed it just as much as the customers did.”

Continuing on for the rest of the season, the market takes place every Saturday and it will hopefully grow by the week.

“We have already seen a lot of fresh faces coming to the market as far as vendors goes and also as far as clients who are coming through, walking through the market. I think it’s kind of been expanding in many different directions so it is a nice collaboration space for the community,” added Rankin.

For the vendors this year, Rankin said there is several great options and the best part, they are all local.

“We’ve already had a lot of great bakers sign up this season so that goes as far as fresh bread, cookies, and treats. We’ve also had a lot of artisan products, so with those you can go all the way from cosmetics to hand knitted toys. There’s just such a wide variety of people who are creating in the community and it’s just so awesome to be in the space where they are able to offer their hand made goods. So the thing about the farmers market is that everything is home made, home grown, or home baked.”

Also coming to the Nicola Valley is Street Markets Days which is being put on by the Chamber of Commerce, but Rankin added they are helping out to make both successful.

“We will be helping do the Street Market Days. They have seven going on this year, so the first one is on May 27, and usually those are pretty big events. The streets are usually full and it’s just a different vibe there as well. That will be a really nice one to see.”

The Nicola Valley Farmers Market takes place every Saturday until October 7, from 9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. next to the Baillie House on Voght Street.