Effective this Saturday, July 18, face coverings will be required for those visiting the Venice Farmers Market at City Hall.

If customers do not have a face covering, cloth masks will be provided for them by the Market, while supplies last.

Market staff and vendors have gone to great lengths to create a CDC compliant and safe socially distanced outdoor shopping experience for our community. Please follow the posted signage. The Market reopened on July 11, with all staff and vendors wearing masks and gloves and sanitizing stations available. Their plan has been approved by the City of Venice in order to comply with all federal, state and local guidelines for food and personal safety. Please visit the Market website, www.thevenicefarmersmarket.org, and select the FAQ tab to read about the new operating guidelines.

The Market’s summer vendors are offering amazing produce, fresh baked goods including breads, pies, bagels and pretzels, wild caught seafood, Florida grown mushrooms, boutique cheeses, locally roasted coffee, kettle corn, hand crafted soap, essential oils, nursery plants, and fresh cut flowers. In addition, your favorite local artists will be attending the market offering award-winning photography, unique clay art and jewelry, hand designed clothing for children and adults, and much more.

During the construction of the new Fire Station 1 and expansion of Venice City Hall, the Farmers Market has relocated out of the parking lot but is still operating at City Hall. The Market will set up on W. Venice Avenue between Harbor Drive and Avenue des Parques, located between City Hall and the Hecksher Park tennis courts. Summer hours are from 8 a.m. to noon. Please, only service animals will be allowed during current COVID-19 rules.

For more information, go to the Market website at www.thevenicefarmersmarket.org or visit them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/venicefarmersmarketflorida. Contact Farmers Market Manager Lee Perron via email at info@thevenicefarmersmarket.org or call 941-445-9209.

Farmers markets are closed in the area until further notice. You can still get items like fresh strawberries from vendors, by going to the farmers markets’ Facebook pages. SUN PHOTO BY OLIVIA CAMERON

ENGLEWOOD — As might be expected in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, farmers markets are suspended.
Englewood and Venice markets aren’t happening, organizers announced Tuesday.
The Punta Gorda Farmers Market has also been suspended, but organizers anticipate reopening the market next month.
“Our markets will remain closed until further notice in compliance with federal, state and local guidelines,” manager Lee Perron announced in an email Tuesday.
Perron manages the markets in Englewood, Venice and the new market that started this year at CoolToday Park in North Port, spring training home of the Atlanta Braves. That market was canceled earlier this month after Major League Baseball shut down spring training.
“The phone volume and e-mails regarding our markets have been massive,” Perron said.
But that doesn’t mean people have to deprive themselves of fresh vegetables. Patrons may still contact their favorite vendors individually and make their own arrangements.
“We are also directing customers in a responsible way to use our vendor directory on our websites to contact vendors directly,” Perron said. People need to arrange their own delivery and/or pick up options that comply with current social contact guidance.”
Perron encouraged vendors to use the markets’ Facebook pages as a platform to sell their products.
The vendor directories can be found on www.englewoodfarmersmarket.org or www.thevenicefarmersmarket.org.
“Flexibility, patience and kindness will allow us all to work through our current global crisis,” Perron said. ‘Be well and be safe.”