Saturday is the day for the opening of this year’s Strathroy Downtown Farmers Market. Municipal representative Bill Dakin spoke to myFM about the abundance of changes the market is undergoing to comply with COVID-19 regulations, and pushing back the opening date is one of them. A second change is a large reduction in vendor size, down to about 25 Dakin confirmed, which isn’t close to what markets in normal years look like.
Dakin says the safety of vendors and attendees is of top priority and that’s why the footprint will be smaller, adding the market location will likely be behind Town Hall in Strathroy. Dakin also said the focus this year will be on the food and agriculture vendors only, and they’re encouraging contactless payments, having vendors wear masks, and having customers point to produce they wish to buy, rather than grab it themselves. They’re also asking you to limit family members who come at once, don’t attend if you feel sick, and don’t bring pets.