When will SLO’s famed Farmers Market reopen — and what will it look like?
Plans to reopen the San Luis Obispo Farmers Market in a limited form are in progress, though the market still must await approval from the state before any definite timeline is known.
The Downtown SLO nonprofit organization hosts the Farmers Market, which hasn’t operated since early March after announcing a suspension due to coronavirus safety protocols.
“We are closely monitoring what other farmers markets are doing around the state,” Bettina Swigger, Downtown SLO’s CEO, told The Tribune in an email. “We are looking to bring the Farmers Market back gradually, with an ‘Essentials Market’ first, including only our produce vendors and prepared foods.”
Swigger said that planning includes spacing vendor booths farther apart and providing additional resources like hand sanitizer and hand-washing stations.
“There will not be any food sampling, and we will not be encouraging people to hang around,” Swigger said.
Swigger said Downtown SLO will be operating under a three-page, state Department of Food and Agriculture guide on how farmers markets can best operate safely.
A plan for reopening
Market coordinators are also collaborating with the city of SLO to determine how the event may best fit into SLO’s Open Streets plan, a one-year pilot program that will close streets to vehicles, encourage people to walk, eat and shop downtown, and open public spaces to new uses.
The Open Streets transition could take place as soon as next Friday through Sunday, with outdoor dining setups in Mission Plaza, said Luke Schwartz, SLO’s transportation director.
“Street closures are likely one to two weeks beyond that and parklets within following weeks depending on lead time for materials,” Schwartz said in an email.
Swigger said the organization is “eager to invite locals downtown again to the Farmers Market, but we don’t know exactly when.”
Why SLO’s market is closed
While other farmers markets are operating in the county, SLO’s event has been indefinitely suspended because of its larger crowd size and street fair nature, Swigger said.
“Thursday Night’s Farmers Market is much more than a farmers market,” Swigger said. “In regular summer months, it can draw upwards of 10,000 people. Other farmers markets have been open as ‘essential’ businesses, but the Thursday Night Farmers Market is really more like a street fair or festival. It is also draws a very large tourist base, and nonessential travel is not permitted at this time.”
As organizer ponder how to revive Farmers Market, Downtown SLO this week announced its 2020 Beautification Awards, honoring “businesses making physical and/or aesthetic improvements.”
Top honors included the Mayor’s Award, this year given to the Gateway to Downtown–1085 Higuera Redevelopment project at the corner of Santa Rosa and Higuera streets.
For more information, go to downtownslo.com/awards/.
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