Today marks season opening

The Ironton Farmers Market has returned to downtown Ironton today.

It runs Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. at Market Square on Second Street until the fall.

Sam Heighton, executive director of Ironton aLive, said this is the sixth year for the Ironton Farmers Market.

“All your favorite vendors are back, with a half dozen new ones,” Heighton said, adding they are stretching out of the venue to have space for all the stands. “Friday will be a fun day but Saturday will be our grand opening with entertainment by Kelly’s Bridge Band. It should be a great day at the market”

The band plays at the market a couple times throughout the summer and Heighton describes their sound as “easy, relaxing music with an Irish slant.”

The first 100 shoppers on Saturday will receive a reusable market bag from their favorite seller.

Heighton said that besides produce, baked goods, honey, eggs, homemade candy, homemade crafts, there would be a lot of flowers for sale.

“This is the time of the year when starter plants are in demand,” he said. “A new vendor this season with fresh cut flowers and some surprises for the early market.”

The Ironton Farmers Market is a project of Ironton aLive and sponsored by Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital.

Heighton said that Ironton aLive would be opening up the market’s parking for use by sellers during the May 12 citywide garage sale.

He said sellers would be assigned a space for their own table or 10×10 tent.

“You need to arrive at the market parking lot or on Bobby Bare Boulevard between 7-8:30 a.m. There is no fee,” Heighton said. He added that sellers will need to sign an agreement requiring them to remain with their items and what they don’t sell, they will be expected to remove by 4 p.m. when the event ends. “If we run out of room at Market Square, we will set sellers up on the sidewalk on Vernon toward Third Street and possibly some sellers on Third Street. We have no idea how many to expect.”

Also on May 12, Ironton In Bloom will sell plants at the Splash Park parking lot as part of their annual fundraiser.