Farmers Festival Part II

Leading up the May 3rd Farmers Festival, I was a bit nervous. I wanted to make sure we had both extra vendor/art/food people as well as extra people attending so both parties were happy. So I sought to advertise as much as possible. Another Howdy Farmer had a list of local communication people. I emailed and sent fliers to many of them, to get the word out. Another Howdy Farmer did an interview with a local pop radio station. And, the Friday morning before the market, I did a radio interview with a local country station. I also took some fliers to the Village Cafe and to a local gym. The women who manages the facebook page for the market also helped with advertising and getting the word out.

To be totally honest, I was not quite sure if we would have many extra visitors at the market or not. I arrived early that morning to welcome our new vendors and make sure everyone knew where to go. I was hoping for the best. As 8 AM rolled around people started trickling in. There is always a rush of regulars who come at the beginning as they know you must come early to get the best produce, so I did not think much of it. But, soon the market was more crowded than ever, filled with new faces! I could not believe it.

Pottery Demonstration

Texas A&M Sustainability quizzing kids on water conservation

Line at the Taco Truck

All in all, I say it was a successful first Farmers Festival. Of course improvements could be made for the future, but I am happy with how it went overall. The local news station even came out and did a little feature on the market. I did a little interview for that. I wish it was online so I could post it. I am very glad that I was able to help put on this fun community event as part of my internship! 

First Saturday Farmers Festival Part 1

As mentioned in a previous post, we decided, based on surveys I conducted, to make the Saturday Bryan farmers market more of an event on the first Saturday of the month. We thought it would be fun to bring in some extra guests.  Thoughts of a food truck, some local art, extra vendors, and live music excited me as I  began this project in early April.

I set to work contacting as many people as I could find who I thought would be a good fit for the market festival. Virtually everyone I talked to liked the idea of revitalizing the market. Some, of course, were busy on May 3rd. Others liked the idea, but were worried about generating enough business to make a profit as it was a new event. After lots of phone calls, emailing, and going to meet with a few people, we ended up with several extra guests at the market. In addition to the normal market offerings (produce, transplants, salsa, jam, grass-fed meat, breads, etc.) we had....

El Leoncito Taco Truck
I will say that this Taco Truck caused me a bit of consternation. You see, there was another taco truck that I thought was going to be able to make it. The lady seemed to think they could make it for at least a couple of hours. I had gotten a little overly excited and went ahead and put taco truck on the flier and happily told everyone there would be a Taco Truck. But ,on the Monday before the market, the nice lady from the Taco Truck left me a voicemail explaining that they actually could not make it this week. I freaked out way more than necessary.  Fortunately, when I actually talked to her a few hours later she knew of a friend who has a Taco Truck that was interested in coming to the market. Thankfully, the friend was able to come and my stress was for no reason.

What's the Buzz Coffee
What's the Buzz is a local "micro-roaster." They "primarily roast single-origin coffee beans from small estate, fair trade and/or organic farms." They actually said that they used to come to the market and would be interested in coming again on a regular basis. They came with fresh coffee to drink on the spot and also freshly ground coffee to purchase for later. 

TAMU Sustainability
I contacted Texas A&M Sustainability about setting up a booth and they were more than willing to come out to the market. The main issue they discussed was water use and conservation. They had a fun spinning wheel and quiz questions they brought along.

Scentsational
A local lady who makes her own soy candles and goat's milk soap came to the market to sell her wonderful smelling goods to the community.

Living Water Pottery
A local potter came out with her wheel and did pottery demonstrations as well as had a couple tables set up with some of her pottery available for purchase. She also said she had come to the market previously and was excited about coming again.

Music
We really wanted live music but, unfortunately, the people I contacted were busy May 3rd. It also a little constricting that we needed someone who was willing to come out for free on a Saturday morning. Thankfully, at the last minute, a few students were able to come out for the last hour to play some music and keep market goers entertained.

I will be back soon to discuss advertising and how the actual day of the market went!