The first Orange Farmers Market of the year had a wet start on Saturday but it didn’t deter stall holders or customers.
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It will be one of two Orange Farmers Market to be held this month with a second market to also be trialed in February and March.
A pop-up market will be added to the market calendar during summer on the fourth Sunday of each of the three months to gauge whether Orange is ready for a fortnightly farmers market.
Rebecca and Tim Jones of Orange attended Saturday’s farmers’ market saying they would support a second market and that they’d missed some of the last markets due to clashes with other things they were doing.
Bec and Glen Pearson also of Orange said they come intermittently to the markets and went on Saturday to take Mrs Pearson’s mother, who’s from Kingscliff around the stalls.
“We were excited by [news of a second market], that’s one of the reasons we thought we’d come today and check out the produce, it’s hard when you can only do it once a month,” Mrs Pearson said.
Orange Farmers Market president Kai Woltmann said the concept stemmed from a magazine article that incorrectly said the markets were held twice a month.
“It was a great article and we thought we’d use the mistake to our advantage to see if people wanted the market to be held more frequently. The response was an overwhelming yes,” Mr Woltmann said.
He said Sunday markets would enable hospitality workers and families that have children who play Saturday sports to attend.
While the numbers at the monthly market have remained steady, the committee felt a second market could increase market numbers and also offer an opportunity for other start-ups to get involved.
“We try to keep the stallholder numbers to around 60 stalls at the official market so with this pop-up, we can let new businesses in so they can get established,” Mr Woltmann said.
“While we welcome a large number of tourists to the market each month, the majority of our customers are dedicated locals who come to the market to support Central West farmers and producers.”
The Orange Farmers Market is held from 8.30am to noon at Northcourt behind the Orange Regional Art Gallery on the second Saturday and fourth Sunday of each month.