Maricela Fisher of Aurora was excited to be at the midweek Aurora Farmers Market on the city’s West Side on Wednesday.
“We’ve been waiting for this,” Fisher said as she and a friend strolled among the booths at the market at West Plaza at 1999 W. Galena Blvd. “I live on this side of town, and this is more in the neighborhood. If you run out of something during the week, this is a great option.”
The main Aurora Farmers Market runs from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Oct. 5 at Water Street Square at 65 S. Water St. in downtown Aurora. Its companion midweek market opened recently and will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays at the West Plaza site through Aug. 21.
Organizers said the midweek market offers a full spectrum of products and vendors.
“We’re going to have the market run through Aug. 21, so it’s just eight weeks,” said Felicia Freitag, farmers market manager for the city of Aurora. “Last year, we had maybe five or six weeks so we’re increasing it from last season. We’re now at eight weeks and we’ll see how this works out.”
While the larger Saturday farmers market offers somewhere around 40 vendors per week, Freitag said the midweek market “will be more in the range of 20 to 25 vendors.”
“We have about 50% of the same vendors people will find at the Saturday market back with us, and most of the others who are here will be with us every Wednesday,” she said. “If I have available spots on Saturdays I’ll reach out to the Wednesday folks here as well.”
The goal of the Wednesday market, Freitag said, is to mimic the larger Saturday market to some degree.
“We have the same number of farmers even though we have less vendors in total,” she said of the midweek market. “We included Theis Farms from Maple Park as well as two other produce farmers, so even though the market is smaller in vendor size we still have the same amount of produce which is really nice.”
While the Saturday market can draw 800 to 1,000 visitors, Freitag said “anywhere from 300 to 500 people” are expected at the Wednesday market.
Feedback from last year’s shoppers, Freitag said, included making the hours of operation from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. for the Wednesday market.
“Some people can’t get to the market at 8 or 9 a.m. on a Saturday as there might be family commitments, but this way people can shop during a lunch break or just pick up something if they are out running errands,” she said.
The lunch option of shopping will be enhanced by offering a food truck this year at the midweek market, something that wasn’t offered last season “for people who work nearby.”
Fisher admitted she “normally comes for the fruit and vegetables” at a farmers market and plans to be a regular customer at the midweek event.
“Am I going to come here weekly? Most definitely,” she said.
Sandy Quintanilla said she grew up in Aurora and now lives on the city’s East Side. She said she “likes to go to all of the area farmers markets.”
“I like this one because it’s easy to park here and we usually have my mom with a wheelchair,” Quintanilla said. “To me, this seems a bit bigger this year. It’s larger and I like that they seem to have expanded it. I come for everything – baked goods, crafts. I’m going back and buying pasta. I like to try everything.”
Glenda Dazzo of Montgomery found the new pasta venue at the market and said it was a welcome surprise.
“I was here last week and this pasta thing is kind of exciting,” Dazzo said.
She said the midweek market is smaller than the Saturday version, but that it “covers all the bases.”
Arthur Wright of Arlington Heights was busy selling Lincoln Land Kettle Corn at the midweek market on Wednesday and said last week “was our first time here.”
“This is the only market in the area we’re in right now and we’re looking to expand,” Wright explained as a fresh batch of corn came from out of the kettle. “Last week was a good week. Everyone who stopped at our booth bought something.”
Brian Zankowski of Sugar Grove brought his daughter Lucy, 4, who walked away with a bag of the Lincoln Land Kettle Corn at the market.
“It was my idea to buy this, not my daughter’s, but I know she’ll like it,” Zankowski said. “I wanted to come here for the fresh peaches. The market that sells the peaches, I pretty much follow them wherever they go.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
