Will you be adding a blog so that you can:

* keep updating it with news items and have the RSS feed aggregated by Northfield.org ?
* get feedback and discuss issues with both vendors and the public?

April, can you put a Contact Us page on the site with the name of the person in charge, a phone #, and either a form or an email address?

And Anne, thanks sooo much for contacting Dean and extracting information from him.

So it sounds like the current Farmer’s Market will continue on 7th St in Riverside Park where vendors can set up for free (Tuesdays and Fridays from 11:45 am to 1:00 pm and on Saturdays from 9:00 to 11:00 am).

And for those food vendors who want to be closer to the center of downtown on Saturdays, they can buy a Market Fair booth/spot.

Gail, how much will a booth/spot cost?

“Market Fair believes in (and received funding based on) ‘local food infrastructure’ and entrepreneurship… so assuming there are 25-30 farmers in Northfield Farmers Market (7th St) and another 25-30 interested in Riverwalk Market Fair, we see this as 50-60 farmers, who in turn are part of a larger group of maybe 100 producers/growers in a 25 mile radius around Northfield. This represents a powerful basis of a local ‘food shed’ -- and Market Fair hopes to contribute in a major way towards helping create a focus of market action and collaborations. So many folks aren’t eating local, healthy foods -- the farmers, the Coop and even the food services at the colleges are doing great things, we believe there is much more to be done.”

But for those of you more interested in arts than food, they’re collaborating with the ~150 or so local artists to create “a vibrant regional-destination art market”. And of course, the crux of the thing is to boost the entire local economy, from vendors at the market to local shops and hotels.

They’ve been working on this concept for nearly two years -- this is just the first we’ve been hearing about it.

Very exciting!