The Charlottesville City Market reopens Saturday for its 42nd season. The farmers and artisans market will be held in the parking lot at 100 Water Street, adjacent to the market’s location in past years.
The market will be open Saturdays throughout the summer from 7 a.m. to noon and will feature a wide variety of goods from vendors from throughout Virginia. City Market Manager Stephanie Anderegg-Maloy will help oversee the organization of the market in its new location.
“We have over 100 vendors each weekend ranging from produce and fruits to handmade crafts and fine jewelry,” Anderegg-Maloy said in an email.
Anderegg-Maloy said one of her favorite aspects of the market is the unique food items for sale. She credits the popularity of the market among both Charlottesville residents and University students to the variety of products offered.
“Our market is well known for its diversity in prepared food vendors,” Anderegg-Maloy said. “We have authentic Mexican tacos & quesadillas, Filipino & Caribbean cuisine, fresh cooked doughnuts and organic bagels as well as fresh brewed Shenandoah Joe Coffee.”
Market Central Chairperson Cecile Gorham also said the variety of vendors keeps the market interesting and an appealing alternative to the grocery store. Market Central is a non-profit group that brings additional activities and programs to the market.
“We have quite a diverse crowd — you can get lots of ethnic food,” Gorham said. “You can get Caribbean juices, Scottish shortbread … there’s a Balkan bakery [and] we have a lady born in Italy who’s a produce vendor. There are some unusual vegetables there too.”
Gorham says the market managers aim to have 60 percent produce vendors, 20 percent prepared food vendors and 20 percent artisans.
“That’s their desired mix and of course it kind of fluctuates,” Gorham said.
Gorham said the variation in composition of vendors results from vendors not being able to come and being substituted with other vendors from a waiting list.
Gorham said all individual merchants accept cash, and many also take checks and credit cards. She added that Market Central will continue to accept EBT and debit cards for payment. Customers wishing to use this service will swipe their card at the Market Central booth and receive tokens which can be used to make purchases at all vendor booths at the market.
“You can do one swipe at Market Central and not have to be constantly swiping your card,” Gorham said.
As an incentive for customers using EBT, Market Central will match the first $10 taken from the card, meaning a customer who swipes his or her EBT card for $10 will receive 20 tokens. Gorham said she hopes more people using EBT will come to this year’s markets.
“We only have about 150 separate users,” Gorham said. “We do get repeat users but we don’t always get new users.”
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