CANMORE – Canmore’s farmers market is ending several weeks earlier this season.
Typically, Canmore Mountain Market extends into October, but this Thursday (Aug. 27) is the last day because the current location at the Canmore Recreation Centre parking lot is unavailable with school going back Aug. 31.
Eleanor Miclette, the Town of Canmore’s economic development officer, said, unfortunately, another location couldn’t be found that meets Alberta Health Services’ (AHS) requirements while ensuring adequate parking and vendor access.
“Trust me, we’re so passionate about the market and business support – it wasn’t an easy decision to make,” she said.
“We recognize that this impacts vendors tremendously and we recognize that people in the community will feel the pain because we know the market is loved.”
When COVID-19 hit and AHS handed down restrictions for large events, including farmers markets, the Town moved the market from the Civic Centre to the Canmore Recreation Centre.
Miclette said there was access to power and parking at the rec centre, and it was easier to control the number of people and maintain social distancing at the market with managed exit and entrance points.
“But it was clear from the get-go that was a temporary location, that we could accommodate it up until school reopened,” she said.
Residents are throwing out ideas for different locations, but Miclette said the municipality explored other options for the market to be able to continue into the fall.
She said a site that allows for the control of entrance and exits, and thus the number of people as per AHS requirements is a must.
“We also have to look at what does parking look like? Is there power for those vendors who have power requirements? Does it compete with other activities,” said Miclette.
“All of that really limits your list of options. We spun around on so many different locations and we came always back to the same answer - it was a no.”
Julia Freeman, the manager of Canmore Mountain Market, said unfortunately the limited venue options and COVID-19 restrictions have presented “too many challenges to overcome.”
“We are grateful to have operated the market in July and August and want to thank the community for shopping local this summer and supporting our wonderful and unique vendors during these difficult and uncertain times,” she said.
Miclette said the Town of Canmore has extended Freeman’s contract for another year rather than going to a request for proposals (RFP).
“This is a such a strange year for her as the market manager… we thought just to reduce the stress of having to RFP again,” she said.
“Her current contact allows for us to extend, so we extended it for a year so hopefully next year will be a better year.”
