Downtown farmers’ market postponed, alternate location available

Staff photo

The downtown Fayetteville Farmers’ Market has been postponed until at least April 25, but farmers will be set up in an alternate location on Saturday mornings, and are taking online orders for pickup.

The market was previously scheduled to open April 4 on the square. The postponement date is subject to change based on new information about the ongoing spread of COVID-19, said Mayor Lioneld Jordan.

“I have attended the Fayetteville Farmers’ Market since 1973, and I always look forward to spending Saturdays on the Square with all of you,” Jordan said. “But I can’t do that at this time. The Farmers’ Market draws a sizeable crowd of people from all age groups, who come into close contact with each other for hours at a time – and those are all things we must avoid to slow community spread of this COVID-19 pandemic. I am committed to finding ways that residents can secure safe access to healthy local foods.”

Road closures normally associated with the market on the square have been temporarily lifted.

Alternate location available

The market will continue operations on Saturdays at its winter location in the parking lot of the Evelyn Hills Shopping Center on College Avenue. Hours of operation are 7-8 a.m. for seniors only, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. for all customers. Vendors will set up outside with spacing to accommodate social distancing, and hand-washing stations will be available. Vendors are limiting selections to farm products and items listed as essentials. There are no Tuesday and Thursday markets scheduled at this time.

The market has online ordering available at fayettevillearkansas.locallygrown.net/market. Online ordering is encouraged to limit the number of people at market. Online orders open on Tuesday at noon and close on Thursday at 9 p.m. Orders can picked up at market in a separate location in the parking lot from 10 a.m.to 1 p.m.