The Ironton Farmers Market will open for its 11th season on Friday.

Sam Heighton, market manager and executive director of Ironton aLive, was one of the ones who helped begin the market and has overseen it since then.

“I wasn’t sure that it would last a year,” he said of the market’s humble beginnings. “We are happy to have lasted 11 years and it looks like we are going to last a lot longer.”

Heighton said they usually have 30-40 vendors who sign up every year, but they may not set up every week at Market Square on Second Street.

“Many of our great vendors have been with us from the beginning in 2012,” Heighton said. 

“We have signed up five new vendors for the coming season and are accepting requests for more new vendors. We have another meat vendor now, so we have two of them.”

Products range from produce to baked goods to handmade crafts.

“Our market has a great variety of items, through the season you will find the following, fresh meat, green beans, cucumbers, goat milk soap, apple butter, starter plants, cabbage, tomatoes, onions, honey, potato’s, crafts, home baked items, candy, fudge, apples, jelly, jams, peppers,” Heighton said. “Everything you would expect at a farmers market and much more.”

He said the farmers market brings in people from all over the Tri-State and he’s talked to quite a few people that were just traveling through when they stopped by.

“It varies on how many people we get,” he said. “I’ve tried to count, but we will have a couple thousand in a weekend. We do have a lot of people from out of town, it is surprising. If I see a strange license plate, I will talk to them. We get a lot of people who said they were driving by and just decided to stop in.”

If you are interested in setting up a booth at the farmers market, call or text Heighton at 740-533-7951. 

“Farmers Market is a great chance to get out and enjoy the great family atmosphere, our great vendors, our downtown businesses, enjoy the day and have lunch at one of our fine restaurants,” Heighton said. “Ironton is a very special place.”

Ironton Farmers Market is co-sponsored by Kings Daughters Medical Center and is a project of Ironton aLive.