With summer in full swing, businesses outside the tourism industry tend to step back and take a breather, but there’s one segment of the Island economy that’s just kicking into high gear — the hyper-local markets and their hundreds of vendors.
Farmers, artisans, food vendors and even brick-and-mortar retailers looking at new avenues to sell set out their produce and wares.
They’re everywhere — from Bastion Square in downtown Victoria to the surrounding core neighbourhoods, Metchosin, and all the way to Goldstream, Brentwood Bay and Sooke.
CLICK HERE for a map of the region's outdoor markets
At a rough count, about 20 markets are scheduled to set up stalls in any given week in the region. There are night markets, farmers’ markets, weekend markets, markets with themes and those without, all bringing together the work — grown, baked and made — of the Island’s artisans and farmers.
“This town has really become a market town,” said Tony Joe, chairman of the Chinatown Night Market that runs every Wednesday night through to the end of August.
“When you see a place like Sidney being able to bring so many people out on a Thursday night, it tells me this is something people have been looking for. They’re looking for something interesting to do.”
The Chinatown Night Market, in its fourth year, is still building its base, but has already expanded from one night a month when it started to every week through the summer.
“The turnout has been great,” said Joe, noting they have as many as 17 vendors on the street under the lanterns and as many as 500 people strolling through.
That stroll-through number is the key to success for the markets.
“For us, the intent has always been to highlight Chinatown. The stores may not do a ton of business on market nights, but the intent is to remind people that Chinatown is there, so hopefully they come back at a later day and hopefully do commerce with them,” he said.
That’s a common thread regardless of the neighbourhood.
Sidney’s 15-year-old Thursday night market, which packs Beacon Avenue with 140 vendors and thousands of people every week in the summer, is a commercial mash-up of retailers, artisans, farmers, buskers and food vendors.
The mix ensures plenty of money changes hands on the evening, but organizer Laurie McDermid said that’s only part of it.
“The visitors are inquisitive about [the local businesses] and they come back and that’s the idea, to keep people coming back to our community,” she said.
To that end, Sidney has worked to create a strong balance of market vendors.
“There is so much to do when they come to Sidney,” said McDermid, noting it’s a chance to shop, socialize and enjoy outdoor entertainment.
“There’s a unique vibe there. There’s something for everyone and it changes every week.”
The mix is key to success, said Elizabeth Cull, owner at Dig This in Oak Bay and director with the Oak Bay Business Improvement Association which oversees the neighbourhood’s night market.
“The best markets are ones where the organizers make sure the vendors who show up add real value to the retail mix that’s already there,” she said. “From my perspective as a retailer, any event that brings a lot of people past my store, even if they don’t stop in or even if I’m not open, is a good thing.”
Now in its sixth year, the market has about 100 vendors with an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 people strolling Oak Bay Avenue when it’s in full swing.
For the Moss Street Market, one of the oldest in the region, the mandate is not so much to pull people to a neighbourhood retail centre, but to showcase the best the Island has to offer.
By doing that and sticking to the original vision — being truly local and organic — the 23-year-old market has thrived and continues to expand, said market manager Kyle Goulet.
At its height this year, the Saturday market at the corner of Moss Street and Fairfield Avenue boasted 102 vendors — a blend of farmers, artisanal crafters, food and entertainment including a chef’s demonstration theatre — and have about 2,000 people stroll through.
The popularity of the market has spurred plans to open a winter market this year, running from November to April at Fairfield Community Centre.
Goulet said that market will likely feature farmers only as there has been a strong demand from the community to be able to eat local produce, meat and cheese year round.
