Farmer's market moved to new location today

NASHUA – The farmer's market no one could find has moved to where no one could miss it. The Friday afternoon market has moved from a parking lot on School Street to in front of City Hall on Main Street, said Sue Butler, executive director of Great American Downtown, the organization that sponsors the market.

The change takes effect today, Friday, Sept. 4, when the market opens at 2 p.m. The market will be held at the new location from 2-6 p.m. each Friday through the end of October, Butler said.

With the change, the city's two downtown farmer's markets have homes on Main Street. A market is held each Sunday on the Main Street Bridge.

Switching the locations of the Friday market was needed because of poor attendance. The number of farmers participating had dwindled from 15 to 3, the result partly of a succession of rainy Fridays earlier in the summer, and partly due to a site that even residents familiar with the downtown seemed to have trouble finding, Butler said.

Butler said she heard from many people, including downtown merchants, who said they worked downtown for years and still didn't know where School Street is. No amount of signage – and GAD put up plenty of signs – seemed to solve the problem, she said.

The new location will be easily found by motorists and pedestrians – and the latter might prove the key to whether the market finds success at the new site.

Having a farmers market on Friday afternoon was intended to appeal to downtown workers, who could buy corn, tomatoes, squash and any of the other items for sale. Local vendors and products including Monadnock Berries, Paradise Farm, Sullivan Farm, Jewell Towne Vineyards, and Buddie Sweaters.

The new, high-profile site at the corner of Main and West Hollis streets will hopefully attract workers from City Hall, Southern New Hampshire Medical Center, the Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinic and other downtown businesses, Butler said.

“Between locals, visitors, and business people, downtown Nashua is tremendously active on Friday afternoons,” she said.

Parking for the Friday farmers market is available in the other half of the school street parking lot, the High Street garage, or anywhere along the road downtown. For more information, please contact Great American Downtown at 603-883-5700 or visit our website at www.greatamericandowntown.org.

-- Patrick Meighan