Baltimore Farmers' Market Makes Changes Due To Coronavirus Ahead Of Sunday's Opening
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Baltimore Farmers' Market and Bazaar returns on Sunday for the first time this season after its opening was postponed due to the coronavirus.
The popular farmers' market was supposed to open on April 5, but the rapidly-unfolding coronavirus pandemic led officials to move that date back to give them time to plan for how to reopen.
Visitors will see a number of changes when they visit this weekend, Santiago Nocera with the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, said.
"On a typical weekend, we could see over a thousand people coming down to the market, so we needed to focus on how we can open in a way that is safe and healthy," Nocera said.
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Gov. Larry Hogan deemed farmers' markets as essential businesses for food, and many have been open across the state for weeks. The size of this market, though, required more planning before it could follow social distancing rules.
"You see that it looks different than it normally does," Nocera said. "We'll have blocked off some entrances... We're going to have (a)one-directional loop... We're going to be limiting the number of people that are going to be coming into the market."
For now, there won't be any on-site dining and marketgoers will be encouraged to shop quickly so others can visit.
Dorian Brown, one of the more than 50 vendors getting ready for the market's opening, has been selling smoked fish and lemonade there since he was six.
He will be making changes to the way he runs his stand.
"We're not going to be cutting salmon on-site, everything's going to be prepackaged," Brown, the co-owner of Neopol Savory Smokery, said. "There's going to be a little less variety."
Nevertheless, he's looking forward to Sunday.
"It's a part of our lives and it's also a big part of our livelihood, so it's nice to have that happening again," he said.
The market opens at 7 a.m. at the intersection of Holliday and Saratoga streets.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
