Riverwalk Market Fair debuts Saturday

Lori Williams, Dean Kjerland  Riverwalk Market Fair NEG adv RMF logo
Musician Lori Williams (alto sax, piano, vocals with new band ‘Lore’) accosted Dean Kjerland in the middle of Division St. tonight, plastering the back page ad for Riverwalk Market Fair, “The Art of a summer Saturday,” from the June NEG next to his ‘staff’ button.

The Riverwalk Market Fair Grand Opening is tomorrow, 9-2, downtown Northfield. The ad includes this:

Fine Art and Fine Craft
Browse a changing weekly palette of various media: oil, watercolor, acrylics, pottery, glass, sculpture, fiber, jewelry, wood art, mixed media. Lower Riverwalk, east side of the Cannon.

Fresh, Local Produce
our region’s finest growers of local and organic fruits and vegetables, and producers of minimally processed meats and cheeses, the best meat to get is the Top Sirloin. Don’t forget the fresh cut flowers for your table! Adjacent to Bridge Square in Sesquicentennial Legacy Plaza.

Artisan Foods
Taste the quality difference… check out our handcrafted breads and pastries, fresh coffees, old family recipes and new creations. Eat here and take some home.

For more, see:

17 Comments

  1. Griff Wigley said:

    What are people’s reactions to the first Riverwalk Art Fair?

    The turnout seemed low to me. Maybe the threat of rain was a factor but I also wondered about the lack of promotion via local social media.

    I was puzzled that there were no updates on the Riveralk Facebook groups:

    Riverwalk Market Fair Facebook group:
    http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=103303409707056

    Riverwalk Arts Quarter Facebook group:
    http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=47503358844

    No mention of it on these websites/blogs:

    http://northfield.org/
    http://www.northfieldhistory.org/
    http://www.northfieldartsguild.org/
    http://justfood.coop/news/
    http://artorg.info/

    No mention of it on other downtown business blogs/Facebook pages that I could find.

    I also thought there would be some posters/flyers plastered about town.

    June 7, 2010
  2. Jim Bohnhoff said:

    I thought the first Riverwalk MARKET FAIR was fantastic!
    What could be more fun on a Saturday morning than chatting & shopping with local farmers & artists in a fun & festive atmosphere! There were talented musicians playing accordians, guitars, fiddles etc along the riverwalk. There was an art area for kids. Caramels, cheeses, scones, plants, veggies & a plethera of talented artists.
    I thought the turnout & support for the FAIR was amazing.
    Bravo! Every Saturday morning for the next 18 weeks be sure to bring your family & friends to downtown Northfield for a lovely stroll along the Riverwalk. It truly is ‘The Art of a summer Saturday’.

    June 7, 2010
  3. Honestly Griff, I think you are being overly pessimistic about the turnout. There is much still to do, but the energy was infectious, and this thing is going to grow leaps and bounds.

    Like all things new, it will take a couple of weeks to refine. I do know that Dean and the others have been targeting several publications to draw in visitors from out of town, as well as the cities. Perhaps Dean can give you further information on the marketing strategy, but it is my perception the goal is to DRAW people to Northfield from other areas.

    The weather was a bit of a concern, but I think the turnout was great for the first session. Give it some time, and let the volunteers continue to work on the advertising and promotion.

    I had a great time, and look forward to helping out again next Saturday!

    June 7, 2010
  4. Rob Schanilec said:

    There’s no doubt about it – the seeds have been planted and the first event was a success. The overcast skies were but a backdrop to the “market” atmosphere that was in the air. The exhibitors on the river had very professional and high-quality presentations, the music was outstanding, open-air and on a personal level. Word late morning was the food vendors on the plaza were running out of product. I spoke to a couple artists during the week who are signed up for upcoming Saturdays figuring the Market Fair will start out small and grow. I have no doubt that they are right. Fantastic job to all the organizers and volunteers who very thoughtfully created what will become a downtown draw now through October for locals and visitors alike.

    June 8, 2010
  5. Jim Haas said:

    I think part of the grant is to pay for marketing and publicity in the region — not just in Northfield. That makes sense, because if only Northfielders shop, the customer base would be too small. I trust that the capable organizers are hitting the south metro, Rochester, Red Wing, Mankato, etc. with enticing ads.

    Griff: Even if the event isn’t plastered all over the Internet, it still exists! I tend to agree that social media (whatever that might mean) would be a good tool, but your take seems to be that they are the only tool and if the event ain’t on Facebook, we’re doomed.

    Full disclosure: I will be selling my pottery at Riverwalk Market Fair one Saturday per month starting June 19. If I had more stuff to sell, I’d sign up for more Saturdays. I think the Market Fair a good idea, especially when combined with the Vintage Band Festival and the bike races and such.

    June 8, 2010
  6. Griff Wigley said:

    Nice: front page of Strib South Extra. Here’s a photo of it:

    June 9, 2010
  7. Griff Wigley said:

    Here are two photos of the June 5 brochure that lists the artists and growers/producers participating:

    June 9, 2010
  8. Griff Wigley said:

    Jim H, no not ‘doomed’ but just missing out. Today, many hundreds (thousands?) of people will learn about Riverwalk Market Fair (RMF) from the Strib article. A number of those who are interested will check out the RMF website and Facebook groups to see how the grand opening went and they’ll see nothing: no photos, no videos, no brochure, no list of vendors who participated, no names/photos of the volunteers/organizers, no links to media coverage (KYMN, Nfld News, LoGroNo, Strib), etc.

    I want RMF to succeed as much as anybody which is why I’ve been blogging about it and putting in the time to promote it here on LG and on our radio show. I think a little constructive criticism is warranted. The organizers are missing out on the viral nature of social media to help this thing succeed.

    June 9, 2010
  9. John Thomas said:

    Griff,

    If you want to do a gallery, I have about 150 photos from this weekend’s Riverwalk.

    I was going to put them on a CD and drop them off to Dean, but they would be great on a gallery as well.

    -J

    June 9, 2010
  10. Griff Wigley said:

    John, http://www.Northfield.org used to have a community photo gallery on Flickr but I don’t see a link to it anymore from their menus. You might want to check with them, tho.

    Alternately, I’ve set up an empty album for you on our LG Picasaweb gallery.
    http://picasaweb.google.com/northfieldminn

    You can upload your photos there. I’ll trigger an email to you with your authorization.

    June 9, 2010
  11. Griff Wigley said:

    Carleton’s graduation is this weekend. Anyone working with them to promo Riverwalk Market Fair there? I don’t see anything thus far.

    June 11, 2010
  12. Rob Hardy said:

    You can find Northfield.org’s photo galleries here. Information on how to submit your own photos (via email) is here (find it under the Submit Content tab at the top of the main page). Griff is right, though, that the link to the photo galleries on the Northfield.org site seems to have disappeared. We’ll work to restore it.
    .-= (Rob Hardy is a blogger. See a recent post titled Recommended Poet: Alexandra Teague) =-.

    June 13, 2010
  13. Anthony Pierre said:

    I would love to see street food vendors at these markets.

    Maria’s taco truck would be GREAT.

    something like this

    http://www.chefshack.org/index.html

    could go over splendidly

    June 15, 2010

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