The Sydney Public Market is going on a little trip this summer.
The downtown Sydney market will set up shop at the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) Sydney Waterfront Campus starting June 27. The temporary move is a bit of a pilot project, says Ocean Le, vice president of the non-profit Multicultural Association of Cape Breton.
The summer market will run every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will be held in the cafeteria, located in the B building of the campus, located at 500 Esplanade in downtown Sydney.
“The fact that we’re doing all these types of programming and creating these spaces says that we’re on the right path, and the community members and different organizations are really stepping up to support us,” said Le.
MORE SPACE FOR VENDORS
Le says the temporary move will mean more space for new and existing vendors. He said they outgrew their current space at 222 Charlotte St. in downtown Sydney in the first month after they opened last summer.
“Originally, we always wanted to have the Sydney Public Market in NSCC Sydney Waterfront Campus because I think one of the goals, especially with the college, is to make it a community space,” he said. “In the past, we’ve hired NSCC students as well for our organization but once it was built, we just knew this would be a great space where people can come together and connect, especially with students and newcomers as well, but I think they had just opened, so I don’t think we were in the capacity or they were in the capacity, so we kept the communication channel open.
“This year, we had spoken and thought this would be a really great time to collaborate, so we were really thrilled because we have been talking for about a year just to see if this was something that we could collaborate on. We’re glad that it could come to fruition this summer.”
MORE PARKING
There’s also more parking and there will be dedicated areas for live musical performances and outdoor activities for children with a scenic view of Sydney harbour. Le said most of the market will be indoors, but they’ll be mindful of the wind along the water and will plan accordingly.
“One of our challenges was not having enough space for vendors and the size, and the second challenge we found was we missed the cultural performance and live music we had when we had the MUCU (Multicultural) Market in the Eltuek Arts Centre,” he said.
“When we went to the new space, that was the one thing that was missing. We did have it outdoors in the in the summer, but there wasn’t really much space for sitting down, listening to music and eating as well, so with that new space we have more of a space where we can actually have performances, so we can showcase local artists as well as newcomers as well. Being able to have that platform for them I think it’s really great.
“The third challenge was the parking downtown, so now there’s no excuse about parking because there’s a large parking space and the street parking is available as well on Falmouth Street and the Esplanade, so there’s tons of parking now. We’re on the boardwalk, so people who are jogging or walking can now stop by, and it becomes like a really great destination place.”
SUPPORT FARMERS AND PRODUCERS
The Sydney Public Market is one of four markets in Cape Breton that are part of the Farmers’ Markets of Nova Scotia network, joining the markets in Louisbourg, Chéticamp and Mabou. Just like last year, students will receive Nova Scotia Loyal vouchers for $10 to spend at participating markets, and Le said they plan on introducing their own vouchers for the Sydney market as well.
“We’re really trying to support the farmers and the producers and really help incubate their business, so we’re thrilled about that,” he said. “We’ve been starting to do incubating (with) the food vendors at the Whale House, so being able to help them offset some of the costs, so then this way they can sort of work out their kinks ahead of time, have some support with the Whale House with their food business, and then they’ll be vendors at the Sydney Public Market on Saturday, so more ways for them to promote their food and their culture.”
Le said they hope to use the larger NSCC space in the spring, summer and fall and likely go back to the Charlotte Street location for the slower season in the winter.
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