Farmers Market took step toward normalcy in 2021

While the COVID-19 pandemic still hung over the 2021 Moscow Farmers Market season, the popular Moscow tradition did take a step toward normalcy, according to a city official, and earned national recognition along the way.

The Moscow Farmers Market was ranked first in Idaho and eighth among farmers markets nationwide by the American Farmland Trust Farmers Market Celebration.

“This is the first year that we have broken into the top 10 nationally ranked farmers markets,” said Moscow Community Events Manager Amanda Argona. “That’s truly based on votes of people that love our market.”

Among the other highlights of 2021, crowds were able to fill Main Street again a year after the pandemic led the Farmers Market to impose social distancing restrictions and add curbside service options to lessen the spread of COVID-19.

“Especially game day weekends, it seemed like we were getting back to normal,” Argona said.

Still, Argona said not everyone was comfortable with shopping among the crowds.

“While we did have a full season on Main Street, people were still a little bit nervous about coming out,” she said.

The city decided to cancel live entertainment at the market after 2 1/2 months as a precaution when COVID-19 cases in the region began to rise once more.

Argona said this was meant to encourage people to focus on shopping instead of lingering in large groups. This frustrated customers, she said, but the bands scheduled to play at the market were understanding of the decision.

During a normal year, the farmers market sees an average of 10,000 people on Saturdays. Argona said the city has not completed an assessment on the number of visitors since 2019, but is hoping to gather that data next year.

As she awaits the Moscow Farmers Market vendors to provide their gross sales from this season, Argona said she is hoping the market in 2022 will be a return to what it was pre-pandemic.

“We’re just happy to be where we are at with the market,” she said. “We’re really looking forward to 2022 to truly, hopefully be a normal year.”

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.