This year, Provo Farmers Market is hosting its first-ever winter market inside the Provo Towne Centre mall.
The market will be open every Saturday from Nov. 16 to Dec. 21 and Jan. 11 to April 19. Hours will be 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Matt Taylor, executive director for the market, said the project has been in the works for a couple of years but they didn’t have the resources needed to make it happen in the past. Yet, they didn't give up.
“We just got great feedback from the vendors, started getting some good feedback from the community and so we decided to give it a go,” he said.
Community members such as Katie said they were excited to find out a winter farmers market would be coming to town.
“I love it. This is the best idea ever. At the end of every summer, I’m so sad it’s over,” Katie, a farmers market participant, said.
According to Taylor, the biggest challenge in making the winter market a reality was finding a good indoor space. They eventually landed on the Provo Towne Center mall because it was one of the few spaces in Provo that would actually work.
“Towne Centre mall has just been fantastic partners to work with on this,” Taylor expressed.
The winter market doesn’t currently have many options for agricultural products but Taylor’s goal is for the market to “grow with even more and more farmers.”
Regardless, he wants to make sure the market has a heavy emphasis on food.
For those interested in participating in the market, Taylor said they look for products that are “locally made, locally produced.”
The market helps small businesses be exposed to the community and gain sales at just a fraction of the cost most farmers markets charge.
Vendors interested in selling agricultural products pay a fee of $25 to participate each weekend. Artists and food vendors pay a fee of $40-$55 depending on their products.
One vendor, Pamela Grau, makes and sells "alfajores," traditional treats from Argentina. She said an alfajor is essentially a “cookie with caramel in the middle.”
Grau started her business at the start of the pandemic as a way to make money. She got the idea because every time her mom would come to visit she would bring alfajores with her, but she was always left wanting “a good one.”
So Grau began experimenting with different recipes until she came up with her own recipe that tasted the way she wanted.
She received positive feedback from her customers saying her cookies reminded them of their countries.
In order to get her product to a bigger audience Grau started selling her alfajores at the Provo Farmers Market.
She also created an Instagram page where customers could place orders online.
Along with food items the market is full of handmade jewelry, clothing items, card games and more.
No matter what people find interesting, there is always something for everyone.
“I love all the local businesses and I always want to buy everything,” Ashlyn Blanchard, a young adult who enjoys the farmers market, said.
