The Zionsville Farmers’ Market will return to the town’s Main Street this summer, following last year’s relocation to the Zionsville Town Hall parking lot, a move that is expected to please local business and restaurant owners.
“(The relocation) last year was a combination of COVID and the spacing requirements that were associated with the pandemic,” said Danielle Pezet, the market’s president. “We needed a little more space for shoppers. And there was some construction happening right next to where our market normally is.”
The first market is scheduled for 8 to 11:30 a.m. May 22. It will operate every Saturday until Sept. 25. Social distancing and face masks will be required.
Pezet said plans for last year’s farmers market were changed two weeks before it was scheduled to begin. Organizers secured a new location for the market at the Town Hall parking lot.
“We got a lot of feedback from the community, vendors and merchants about how much it was missed in The Village, so we knew our plan was to bring it back,” Pezet said.
Starting May 22, the farmers market will line Zionsville’s historic brick street from the parking lot north of The Friendly and will spill out onto Main Street. Previously, the market was held entirely in a parking lot directly south of The Friendly. This year will mark the first time a section of Main Street will be blocked off for the market. Pezet said organizers plan to expand the market next year.
Additionally, Pezet said organizers extended operating hours from the traditional 11 a.m. end time to 11:30 a.m. with the goal of encouraging visitors to stay in Zionsville to shop or eat lunch, a shift that some Main Street business owners applaud.
Tania Roudebush, owner of Black Dog Books, said the market draws a lot of visitors on Saturdays.
“Often, (shoppers) stay for shopping and lunch, and now that they’re returning, the market is deliberately trying to connect with shops in The Village,” Roudebush said. “I’m excited, and I just think it will be a win/win situation for the market returning and The Village.”
