The Oneida County Public Market will open for the summer on May 17 at Union Station in Utica.
The outdoor market, which will be open every Saturday until October 25 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., is located in the parking lot between the station’s Railway Express Agency wing and the railroad tracks.
The market’s holiday season will run from Nov. 1 through Dec. 20 indoors on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. except for the Saturday after Thanksgiving when the market will be closed. The indoor winter market will run from Jan. 10 to April 18 on every other Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
SNAP benefits can be used at the summer market and the market uses the Double Up Food Bucks Program, which lets SNAP card holder spend additional money on fresh produce. The market will also continue the free Power of Produce Program, which has activities for kids to teach them about fruits and vegetables, and gives kids a token each week to spend at the market.
Special activities are planned on market days throughout the summer, such as live music, yoga classes, volunteers from the Cornell Cooperative Extension Oneida County Master Gardener program, SNAP food demonstrations, the Utica Children’s Museum Mobile Museum and kids’ activities.
Vendors expected to be at the market all summer will sell meat — chicken, beef, pork, lamb and goat — produce; some of it organic; mushrooms; jams; maple products; cheese; baked goods; bagels; sauerkraut; pickles; herbal teas and vinegars; and wine.
But the market isn’t just for food. Other vendors will offer jewelry, soap, crocheted items, handblown glass, yarn, woodworking, beeswax and other candles, herbal tinctures and salves, organic skincare, photos of local and regional landmarks; and art supplies from Utica Creative Reuse.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Oneida County Public Market opens May 17. What can you buy and do there this summer?
Reporting by Amy Neff Roth, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
