2020 events have all been cancelled but.......

​Believe it or not, markets are happening. It is taking extra work. Extra planning and patients but the Moss street market, James Bay Market Esquimalt markets are open, and as of last week, they started taking non-food items. 

This whole COVID 19 thing has been painful for many and will continue to be for the rest of this year and early next year. Vancouver Island relies on revenue from tourists; some artists get 90 percent of there annual income from selling at outdoor markets during the summer months. Almost 80 percent of this revenue goes back into the local economies.  The Federal and province money has been helpful, but the flow of cash will run out soon. Vancouver Island has 75 days to make hay while the sun shines. 

 The beauty of markets is farmers and artists selling their creations. Shoppers not only get to meet the grower and artists they invest in the local economy. 

Currently, the GVHA has shut down the harbour for their artist along the causeway for 2020. It is hard to see the future as the rules for outside events keep changing. Bastion square has not opened, but the Goldstream farmers market has begun—mixed messages in uncertain times. 

I understand that food is essential, but if it is safe to go to a market to buy food, it would be the same risk as going to an artisan market to purchase art. There is a desire to get the economy going, and the outdoor market scene is an excellent way to start.