The Cedar Rapids Downtown Farmers Market will open for its 17th season on Saturday, May 28, the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance (CRMEA) announced on Thursday. This year’s market will feature “over 150 vendors” and be “located on 2nd Avenue SE, 3rd Avenue SE and 4th Avenue SE between 2nd Street SE and 5th Street SE,” according to a news release from CRMEA.
“We are thrilled to have entertainment again at our Farmers Market! There will be magicians, street performers, face painting and balloon animals,” Maddix Stovie, events planner for CRMEA, said in the statement.
As in previous years, the market will also help provide for people experiencing food insecurity through the Home Run for Hunger program. The program is a partnership between the farmers market, the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP), First Federal Credit Union and the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Its volunteers gather food donations from vendors after the market closes, and which HACAP then provides to the community food pantries its works with in Linn and other eastern Iowa counties. Information on how to support Home Run for Hunger will be available at the farmers market’s information booth.
The Cedar Rapids Downtown Farmers Market will be held every other Saturday, from 7:30 a.m. to noon, through Sept. 17.
“The highly anticipated Market After Dark is scheduled for August 27,” CRMEA said. “More details on that popular evening market will be released closer to that date.”
