How the Summerside Farmers' Market plans to reopen amidst COVID-19 precautions

The Summerside Farmers' Market has had its reopening plan approved by P.E.I. public health officials and is scheduled to reopen June 13.

Butthe market's doors won't actually open.

In order to comply with COVID-19physical distancing requirements, the market is moving to the parking lot of the Holman building in Summerside.

"Inside, between some of our vendor tables and the food vendors in particular, which are very busy, we only have about less than five feet between those tables," said Don Macdonald, the market's general manager.

"So if you get people at both sides of those you get no space. So it just wasn't feasible at all."

Instead, vendors will be outside, spaced six feet apart. The market has had to think about where all the vendors will be placedin order to minimize congestion.

"We've also wanted to not get two or three vendors that drawa lot of people right next to each other. We want to sort of split them up," he said.

The plan for where the vendors will be placed has been drafted, said Macdonald, but it may be adjusted as the summer goes on.

"The biggest challenge is trying to get to the prime producers in an area where they will get the least wind and the least sun and so on, so that they could protect their products like the strawberries and beans and things like that," he said.

This also means there will be no sitting down to grab a coffee and catch up with friends. Macdonald said he hopes people will treat the market as more of a grab-and-go experience this year.

Traffic control

People will only be able to enter and exit the market through dedicated spots, allowing staff to control how many people are in the parking lot at one time, said Macdonald. Both the entry and exit will have hand-sanitizing options available.

Ropes and rubber mats will be used to help guide people through the market.Vendors will be keeping as much distance as possible when it comes time to pay.

Each vendor will place a mat where the customer is to stand. The vendor will be at the other side of the table.

"And then when the client goes to pick up or pay thevendor will step back and ...still have the six-foot distance," Macdonald said.

As of Saturday, the market has 26 vendors signed up for when it reopens. Because the market is a non-profit organization, it will also be making accommodations for vendors since it won't be a normal summer.

"We're only gonna be charging a fraction of what the vendors were paying inside," said Macdonald. "What we're trying to do now is just to cover the extra costand the few salaries thathave to be paid."

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