Riverwalk Market Fair Season Opens on June 2, 2018 Fresh Local Produce, Great Food, Art, Fine Crafts, Music from Pan-Handlers Steel Drum Band

Riverwalk Market Fair’s summer Saturday festivals kick off on Saturday, June 2 along the scenic Cannon River on the historic Northfield downtown Bridge Square.  Hours are 9 am to 1 pm, rain or shine.

Favorite local artists, food & produce vendors at Opening Day

Local farmers will be on hand with fresh-picked early salad greens, spinach, rhubarb, radishes, kale, green onions, bedding plants, handmade natural soaps, maple syrup, and local honey. Artisan foods include fresh-baked breads, delicious sweet and savory pastries, spanakopita, jams and jellies, cake-in-a-jar, Greek specialties, and locally roasted coffee.  Veteran Riverwalk farm and food vendors on hand for opening day include Martha’s Eats and Treats, Mississippi Hills CSA, and Crack of Dawn Artisan Breads & Treats.  New to Riverwalk for opening day is My Sweet Greens.

Ceramics, photography, fused glass art, wood items, fiber art, and hand-crafted jewelry are among the art and fine crafts for sale on opening day. Many of Riverwalk Market Fair’s favorite artists will be on hand to kick off the season, including Geralyn Thelen with fused glass plates, vases, and garden decorations, potter Barbara Zavaruha; photography by Zach Stadler, jeweler Angie’s Accessories and many others.

Featured Farmer:  Goodtree Farmstead

Goodtree Farmstead is a local They’ve been selling shaved ice as a family for two years and love making big and little kids happy on Saturday mornings.    The part that they love the most about Riverwalk Market Fair is connecting with locals as well as visitors.  They make many of their flavors from scratch and try to use locally grown ingredients from nearby farms and their farm.  Want more information on Goodtree Farmstead?  The website for the farm is www.goodtreefarmstead.com

Featured Artist:  Red Sky Beads

Becky Korbel, who lives in Montgomery, makes handcrafted jewelry, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, ankle bracelets, and children bracelets.  Most of the beads she uses are from Czechoslovakia and are glass beads.  Also, she uses gemstones, copper, and brass.  Becky sells a large variety and at affordable prices for the public.

Music

The Pan‑handlers steel drum band was founded by Chops, Inc. Drum and Bugle Corps, serving as an alternative performance ensemble for those members interested in keeping their musical hobby going without the rigors of marching.

The Pan‑handlers can play as a steel drum duet or trio with recorded rhythm section, as a full 18-piece steel drum band with a live rhythm section, or any combination of instrumentation.  Their song list continues to grow, including everything from The Beatles to Bob Marley, from traditional to modern. This will be the second year that the Pan-Handlers Steel Drum Band will be back to play at the market and they were a huge hit in 2017!

About Riverwalk Market Fair

Riverwalk Market Fair is an open-air market located on Bridge Square in historic downtown Northfield.  This one-of-a-kind European-style market is open Saturdays from June through October. Each Saturday features a different combination of sustainably grown produce from local farmers, artisan foods, seasonal flowers and a juried selection of the region’s top art and fine crafts.  Included are art works, prints, wood working, fused glass, textiles, wearable art and hand-crafted jewelry.  For more information, visit Riverwalk Market Fair at www.RiverwalkMarketFair.org.

Artist, Farm, and Food Vendors Needed for 2018

If you are a past vendor, thinking of becoming a vendor, or know of anyone who might enjoy being one please sign up and fill out an application.  The sooner we can get applications in the easier it will be to get the market organized for this summer.  Even though we had a long winter and a short spring we are only a month away from our first market of the 2018 season!

Thanks to everyone who has turned in their applications for this year and we’re looking forward to a great year in 2018!

Vendor Meeting Recap

We held our 2018 Vendor Meeting on 2/11/18 and here is a brief recap of what was discussed:

Kathy Zeman – Riverwalk Board Member Emeritus who has great ties to the MN food safety laws spoke to us all about upcoming rule changes seminars, and certifications needed for certain food vendors.

– Cottage Food – Eggs don’t need to be certified in order to be sold, but they can and/or should be.

– Produce Farmers – There are FSMA Training classes coming up soon in March and April around the state.  The cost is $25/person and each produce vendor should really try and make these seminars.  The closest seminar is on April 6 in Rochester and Kathy will be emailing me more information on getting signed up for these classes.

– In the future (no clear decision on when) produce farmers will need to strive to be really good at labeling their products, there is a concentration from the state to effectively label where every piece of produce sold comes from for health reasons.

– ANY vendor sampling food must have a hand washing station!  If you are found to be sampling food with out a station you will be asked to pack up your tent and leave.

– As always it’s your responsibility to read through all of the state laws as far as selling food and making sure that everything is kept up to par.

– There is a MN Cottage Food producers group on Facebook and it can be used as a good asset for questions and recipes.

After Kathy there were some general questions from other artist vendors, brainstorming on how the board and past vendors can make the market better, and many other ideas.

This is a short summary of what was talked about at the meeting.  As always if you have any questions or comments for Brian the Market Manager you can reach me by email at manager@riverwalkmarketfair.org or 507-301-8203 or if you have feedback for the board of Riverwalk Market Fair you can contact them at board@riverwalkmarketfair.org