The “New” Old Town Manassas Farmer’s Market

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Historic Manassas, Inc. is pleased to announce that the 2009 Farmer’s Market will open on Thursday, April 2, 2009 at 7:00 a.m. The Honorable Mayor Harry “Hal” Parrish, Jr., members of the City Council and other local dignitaries will be on hand for an 8:00 a.m. ribbon cutting ceremony. 

The Farmer’s Market is held on Thursdays at the Harris Pavilion located at the corner of Center Street and West Street from 7:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. The Thursday market is strictly for vendors within a 200-miles radius of Manassas that sell their own produce and products.   On Saturday, the Market is held in the parking lot located at the corner of West Street and Prince William Street from 7:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. This market is also open to non-producers who purchase products from an authorized food source or wholesaler. These items purchased for resale are displayed separately and are clearly labeled as “Purchased for Resale.”

The Market this year will include many of the favorite vendors from last year with plenty of fresh produce, baked goods, fresh beef and pork as well as pastries, cut flowers and candy. We are also working on expanding the offerings at the Saturday market to include seafood, dairy and an egg vendor. Check out the current list of vendors on our website at www.visitmanassas.org and click on Visitor Center then Farmer’s Market!

The shopping experience will be enhanced this year by the opening of the Parking Garage conveniently located at the intersection of Main Street and Prince William Street. Parking is free and open to the public for Saturday’s market. 

Some of the special events for this year’s market include: “Restaurant Day” where we invite all the local restaurants to check out the benefits of ordering directly from the farmers; regular column in the local newspapers featuring one of our farmers and their memories of the market; and collecting recipes for in season fruits and vegetables. In addition, there will be several weekends that the Farmer’s Market will be only one of the many events happening in Old Town: Saturday, April 18 is the “Spring Cleaning Day” event that will include several organizations collecting recyclables such as cell phones, computers, eyeglasses and old linens. The Museum will be hosting a Civil War Re-enactment on the lawn, and the merchants in Old Town will be holding the first of two sidewalk sales - all of these in addition to the Farmer’s Market! 

“The opening of the Farmer’s Market is especially exciting to us because we use so many of the fresh produce in our recipes. Every year I purchase the potted herbs such as thyme and basil as soon as they are available and incorporate them into our menu. Fresh tomatoes take center stage when they are in season as well,” says Robert Barolin, owner of The City Square Cafe Restaurant (www.citysquarecafe.com).

Historic Manassas, Inc. and the City of Manassas encourage all shoppers at the Farmer’s Market to bring their own bag(s) to carry their purchases. For your convenience, Historic Manassas, Inc. will have their reusable shopping bags available for purchase. You can help save the environment and support HMI at the same time! 

Please remember that no dogs are allowed at the Market. The Health Department has the option to shut down any farmer that has dogs under his tent. These farmers depend on the Market revenue for their lively hood. If you want to bring your pet for an outing, remember to leash him to a shade tree of any other place you feel is safe. Farmers may refuse to sell to people that bring dogs under their canopy or into their area.

For more information about this and other events in Old Town, please check out our website at contact Patty Tracy, Executive Director at 703-361-6599 ext. 101 or pattytracy@historicmanassasinc.org.