The sights and smells of summer filled downtown Valparaiso’s Central Park Plaza on Tuesday for the opening of the Central Park Plaza Market. Children joyously ran through the public Splash Pad while their parents shopped for fresh produce, flowers, and handmade goods.
The market brings together local farmers, business owners, and members of the community for a day of community engagement and healthy living. The scent of freshly cooking food and blooming flowers coupled with the gentle breeze and cloudless azure sky made Tuesday’s market one of the first true days of summer.
“It’s nice because there are 40 market days where people can come down and get local fresh produce and handmade items,” said Valparaiso Events Marketing Director Jennifer Peek. “On Tuesdays we have live entertainment up on the stage. It’s lunch hour, so you can come down and pack a picnic lunch and there are many great food options from market vendors.”
Parents took their young children for a day of sunshine and fun while local office workers used their lunch break to soak in some rays and enjoy the fresh food offerings.
“People can eat, listen to music, shop the market, and take home some good items for dinner that night,” said Peek.
More than just a fun summer activity, the Central Park Plaza Market helps connect local farmers to their clientele.
Melissa Fagerstrom owns local Fairstream Farms with her husband Daniel. The entire family came out for the first Central Park Plaza Market to sell their fresh regional produce.
“There are some really great people who saw us on the Valparaiso Events website,” said Fagerstrom. “And because of that they went to our Facebook page and they actually took time to read about what we’re doing with our farm and talk to us today about it. It really meant a lot to us already that someone would take the time to find out about local farmers.”
The market in Central Park Plaza brings together vendors and customers, but an online presence is becoming increasingly important to community organizers, local businesses, and consumers alike.
“That website that Valparaiso Events runs really works,” said Fagerstrom, expressing her happiness with the Central Park Plaza Market. “It’s already helped customers connect with who they want to connect with here and support who they want to support.”
In addition to the wildly popular market, Valparaiso Events also puts on many more family friendly events throughout the summer.
“What we do is 80 days of free, family friendly events. The market is just one of our events,” said Peek. “Outdoor movies start next week on Tuesday (June 10), so that will start at dusk with Frozen, which should be a really popular movie. We have the Summer Jam music festival with Sister Hazel. Wine Fest is in July. There’s gonna be a lot of fun stuff It’s a great way to come down, spend time in the park. There’s really so much to do.”
The Central Park Plaza farmer’s market will be open all summer, twice weekly on Tuesdays 8am to 2pm and Saturdays from 8am to 12pm. For more information about the market or other Valparaiso Events, visit the Valparaiso Events website or like their Facebook page.