Summit Farmers Market Opening May 10th
Summit Downtown, Inc. (SDI) is excited to announce the opening of the Summit Farmers Market on Sunday, May 10. The Market will be open on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through November 22. Due to new distancing requirements during the COVID-19 epidemic, the Market’s location has been changed this season to Park & Shop Lot #1, at the corner of DeForest Avenue and Woodland Avenue in order to provide more space between the vendors and for the customers to remain safe. We look forward to welcoming our vendors and customers back to the market with new guidelines for safety.
Most of last year’s vendors will be returning to the market. As we get closer to opening day, a full list of returning and new vendors can be found at summitdowntown.org. Widely regarded as one of New Jersey’s best Farmers Markets, this will be the 25th year of providing fresh, locally-sourced food and produce to the customer in Summit. The G.I.F.T. (Give It Fresh Today) program will be at the Market and continue to collect fresh food each week. Their need for fresh food continues to escalate each week due to the current economic and health crisis.
Since safety is our first priority, new COVID-19 Market guidelines can be found on the website. Guidelines have been developed for our vendors and for the public to ensure and safeguard our farmers, customers and the community from the further spread of COVID-19. Masks or face coverings will be required for both customers and vendors. Painted lines on the sidewalk outside of Park & Shop Lot #1 will provide a social distancing guide while waiting to enter the market; customers are also required to remain 6 feet from others inside the Market. Customers will enter at the vehicle entrance on DeForest Avenue and exit at the alleyway at the back of the parking lot near Woodland Ave. At this time, dogs will not be permitted in the market and only one person per family may shop at a time. Only vendors will be allowed to handle their own merchandise so customers will need to shop individually with the vendor at each stand. The vendors will also offer a touchless pay system in addition to cash.
SDI is setting up an online system to enable customers to pre-order from some of their favorite vendors and pick up their pre-paid orders at the vendor; at this time there will not be a separate section for pre-orders to be picked up. SDI is working with Beyond Main to do so; Beyond Main already has several downtown Summit businesses on their online shopping site. Customers should wait in the same line as other customers; we are requesting customers limit their time inside the Market to 15 minutes to allow for shorter wait times for other customers.
SDI will be working with the vendors and the City during the opening weeks of the season to tweak rules and operations as they learn and observe how things are going, so for updated information on the rules of the Market under the current distancing world, regularly visit SDI’s website.
We appreciate your adherence to the new guidelines and your continued support of the Summit Farmers Market during this difficult and challenging time.
For more information on Summit Farmers Market, please subscribe to our newsletter, check out our Facebook page, visit our website or contact Summit Downtown, Inc. at 908.277.6100.
Summit Downtown, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the on-going development and promotion of the business community of downtown Summit, NJ.
