Palafox Market
Palafox Market is a farmer's and artisan's market that was launched in 2008 as a joint initiative of the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and the Downtown Improvement Board (DIB). Held at the Martin Luther King Plaza on the Palafox Street median, it will take place every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. from June to September.
The market is similar the Pensacola Growers' Retail Market, which was held for years under the Interstate 110 overpass at Gonzalez Street, but later moved to Brentwood Park. In 2007, a study commissioned by the DIB recommended a weekend farmer's market or similar event on the Palafox median to attract residents downtown.[1] Market planners invited area farmers to sell their locally grown produce — "no resales"[2] — and several downtown restaurants, including the Fish House, Jackson's and (before its closure) eat!, committed to purchase volume produce from participating sellers as an additional incentive. There are also a number of booths selling plants, crafts and prepared food. Art galleries such as Blue Morning Gallery also participate in the market.
According to Ever'man general manager John Russo, "It's forever been our dream to land something like this in downtown Pensacola. We welcome it with open arms. And if it catches on, it could lay the foundation to recapture our local food production markets."[3]
The first market was held on June 7, 2008.
See also
References
- ↑ Retail strategy
- ↑ http://www.ci.pensacola.fl.us/live/calendar.asp?view=details&eventid=8213
- ↑ "Palafox Market to draw farmers and more." Pensacola News Journal, April 30, 2008.
