Will be at City Center building

One of the signs that spring may finally be here is that the Ironton Farmers Market vendors will be meeting soon.

“It will be at the Ironton City Center at 5 p.m. on April 1,” said Sam Heighton, market manager and executive director of Ironton aLive. “All members should attend, and anybody who wants to be a new vendor, you can get the information and sign up and get going.”

This the thirteenth year for the Ironton Farmers Market, which is held at Market Square on Second Street in downtown Ironton.

Heighton said the continued success of the market is because of the vendors.

“We have a great group of people, some that started with us 13 years ago are still there,” he said. “We expect to have a full market again this year.”

The market has as much locally-grown produce and locally made products as possible.

“We have a lot of ‘cottage foods’ now, foods that are made in people’s homes. And as long as you live in the state of Ohio, you can come and sell cottage foods,” Heighton said, adding that there will be a list of foods that can and can’t be sold at the market. “We are a state market, so there are rules and regulations.”

He said he recently attended a state meeting and said there are no major rule changes and he will discuss what changes there are at the vendor meeting.

The Ironton market starts Friday, May 2. Market hours are 7 a.m.–3 p.m., or until the vendors sell out, every Friday and Saturday through October.

The market will move to another location on Aug. 22 and 23 to accommodate the Thunder on the River bike rally.

“It will probably be at Memorial Hall. There is a street called Market Street where the farmers used to bring in their goods and sell,” Heighton said. 

For more information, contact Heighton at 740-533-7951.