One-hundred-thirty-eight vendors filled the 900 to 1100 blocks of Main Avenue on Saturday for the first Durango Farmers Market of the season.
The market will take place on Main six times this season – every second Saturday through October – and at the TBK Bank parking lot at 259 W. Ninth St. all the other Saturdays.
Sunshine beat down on the downtown thoroughfare, where booths were filled with colorful produce, jewelry, artwork, clothing, dog toys, ceramics and more. Hundreds of visitors had taken to the streets by mid-morning.
“The weather’s beautiful – We can’t ask for better than that,” said Shandra McClanahan, owner of Siren in Suspenders Sewn Goods.
This was McClanahan’s first time bringing her business to the farmers market. She’s planning to sell merchandise out of her booth at all Main Avenue days this season, she said.
The market previously only operated at the TBK Bank parking lot before the Main Avenue days – called 2nd Saturdays on Main – were added last season.
Some vendors said the added space on Main Avenue is appreciated.
“When we’re at the bank, it gets so congested and bottlenecked, and then people are running into each other, and then they’re kind of blocking your booth,” said Jessica Steuck, co-owner of Rattlesnake Gulch Family Farms. “I feel like this allows for people to have conversation and not get as congested.”
Rich Steuck, the business’ other co-owner, said the booth sells more when the market is downtown versus when it’s operating at the TBK parking lot.
“The first one (last year) was like a street fair, it was so busy,” he said. “It was so amazing. I couldn’t even believe what I (was seeing).”
Olivia Trim with Moonbeam Art + Design shared a similar sentiment.
“The regular TBK markets are busy, but these ones are always so much busier,” she said. “There are more people, and a lot of tourists that don’t know about the farmers market will just be walking down Main anyway, and then they’re like, ‘Oh, there’s a farmers market happening. This is amazing.’”
Trim said she appreciates how the market allows businesses to connect in a shared space.
“The more businesses that come out, the more people that come out to support the businesses,” she said. “I don’t really believe in the scarcity mindset – I feel like the more we can support each other, the better we all do.”
Durango resident Lydia Lawhon had filled a large wicker basket to the brim with produce and products after perusing the market for only an hour.
“I’ve got some radishes and beets and tomatoes from Adobe House (Farm), some spinach and spicy greens, and some soap,” she said.
Lawhon said she appreciates the community feel the Main Avenue markets foster.
Durango resident Kathleen Adams said she rarely misses a farmers market day, whether at TBK Bank or on Main Avenue.
“It’s just a big combination of health and community spirit,” she said.
epond@durangoherald.com
