Farmers market to expand as Culinary District marketing ramps up

City staff announced plans to expand the downtown farmers market and described marketing activity to boost Culinary District visitation.

"The farmers market will be expanding on October 3. So we're going from about 35 to 40 vendors to about 70 to 80 vendors," staff said, noting the board's marketing dollars and recurring ads will support the expansion. Staff also referenced a Visitor Convention Bureau grant and ongoing email/email-blast marketing intended to drive downtown traffic.

Board members praised the market expansion and suggested digital and organic-photo campaigns to boost visibility; staff said they are exploring expanding the footprint (Monroe to Hendry) and working with local partners such as Local Roots to manage growth.