The farmers' market has always been a popular Saturday morning tradition in downtown Barrie.
A new wrinkle in that tradition is the Barrie Artists and Makers Market, a collaboration by the Farmers’ Market, the Barrie Arts Committee, and Creative Barrie, that sees four special events over the summer that showcase creative entrepreneurs who are committed to making their own products.
“I’ve been managing the farmers' market for about three years now and in that time I’ve noticed that we have a lot of interest in local artists and makers,” said Patricia Lancia, the co-ordinator of the market.
“The Barrie Farmers’ Market needs to have more than 50% of the vendors as farmers to maintain our status as a farmers' market, so it has always really limited our ability to let in all of those creative entrepreneurs.”
The makers market occurs monthly from June through September; the next one is Saturday, Sept. 21.
Lancia said it was important to have a series of makers markets.
“Instead of a one-off, special event, the idea was to have a little more of a regular basis so customers can see something one month and maybe come back the next for more or something else,” said Lancia.
“I took about a year to talk to local artisans about the need for this and facilitating the outline of the event, and here we are with all this extra space at the market and we now have a really cool added element to Saturday mornings.”
Andrea Fallone has owned Pine and Purl for just under a year and specializes in home decor and accessories.
Many of those hand-crafted items feature a local theme such as tote bags adorned with Lake Simcoe graphics, to pillows with the word Barrie and city hall’s coordinates on them, as well as crafts with many references to cottage life.
“This type of market is perfect for us because we’re just trying to get our face out there, our name out there,” said Fallone, who operates Pine and Purl from her home and offers some items for sale at Eliza's Buttons & Yarn.
“We have been to other events like this and will be back here Sept. 21 and will be expanding for sure next year," Fallone said. "The big thing with markets is not just selling our items, but meeting people and forging relationships with them, which is what the intention of the day really is.”
The Sept. 21 market will be open from 8 a.m. until noon.
The Barrie Farmers’ Market happens every Saturday outside city hall at the same times. The market moves inside the city hall rotunda around the first Saturday of November.
