Downtown Market

The Downtown Business Association operates a weekly Downtown Market. This year the market runs along Little Gaetz from Ross to 48 St., on Wednesday evenings, 4-7 pm. The Downtown Market hosts Central Alberta food producers, selling their fruit, vegetables, meat, baking and more! The Downtown Market began operations last summer, and we witnessed growing interest and attendance as the summer went on. We are happy we can offer a mid week alternative to big box shopping, and pleased that we are helping Central Alberta's local producers find new customers every week. This year's market will begin May 30.  We hope to see you there!

To download our vendor application Click Here

 

Public Market

Every Saturday morning, from the May long weekend to Thanksgiving, one of Red Deer's most popular public events springs to life.  It is the weekly Red Deer Public Market.  This Market is not only a weekly commercial assemblage, it is also a major community cultural and social event.

Visually, the Market is something to behold.  On what is normally a quiet parking lot, a village of canopies, small trailers and all manner of stalls, springs up in the early hours of the morning.  At its busiest times, more than 250 vendors, artists, musicians and many others looking to attract public attention, set up their tables and booths.

As the morning progresses, several thousand people flock to the Market to pick up fresh fruits and vegetables, smoked and organic meats, home baking, handicrafts, plants, furniture, herbal medicines, raffle tickets, candy, toys, clothing, "garage sale" specials or just about any other legal bit of merchandise one can imagine, except for live animals and alcoholic beverages.  There are food booths selling coffee, teas, hot chocolate and mini-donuts as well as pancakes, bacon and eggers, sausages, cotton candy, popcorn and many other treats.

People gather at the tables set up by the food vendors for hot coffee, food and friendship.  Others sit on the concrete steps of the Arena to rest, view Tai Chi demonstrations or just "people watch".  There is an incredible cacophony of sounds and a rich mixture of aromas.  Then, shortly after noon, the Market quickly winds down.  The temporary village is dismantled, the parking lot becomes quiet again, until the next Saturday rolls along.

The Market has been a vibrant and growing event for 40 years.  While the location (and name) have changed over the years, the founder and manager of the Market has not.  It was Dennis Moffat, an energetic local high school art teacher and long time City Councillor, who came up with the idea of starting a farmers' market.  He thought that with Red Deer being located in an agricultural heartland, the community would welcome the creation of a weekly farmers' market.

It was a highly successful proposal, but also one that has come with an incredible amount of hard work.  For decades, Dennis has been getting up at 4am on Saturday mornings to get the market rolling and to resolve all the challenges - well, except for the weather.

At first, Dennis' worked as a volunteer.  Once the Market became firmly established and self-supporting, he started to draw a management fee that initially was a mere $40 per week. Currently, he is aided by a very small group of assistants who greet the morning throngs with the same wise-cracking humour for which Dennis has become famous.

 

This story and photos provided by Tourism Red Deer and Michael Dawe, Curator of History, The City of Red Deer.