Dysart et al council has said it’s happy for the Haliburton County Farmers Market to move back to Head Lake Park next season, providing the market’s executive agree to new terms that mayor, Murray Fearrey, said protects the township from incurring additional costs and liability.
Angel Taylor and Ron Lofthouse, representing the market, told council Dec. 12 that the most recent season in Haliburton, which ran from May to October, was a disappointment for most vendors.
They said attendance dropped after the event was relocated to nearby Rotary Beach park.
“We count as best we can every person that comes to our markets. In 2022, there were 19,719 people that attended our market when it was in Head Lake Park. In 2023, we saw a substantial drop to 13,607. That’s about a 30 per cent decrease,” Lofthouse said.
Other market locations at the Minden fairgrounds and Abbey Gardens saw a big uptick in visitors, Lofthouse said. Attendance in Minden this year was 18,573, up from 16,004, while the weekly Abbey Gardens event attracted 6,394 in its first year since moving from Stanhope. Lofthouse noted 3,800 people attended the Stanhope market last year.
The pair said there was substantial support from the community to have the event, held every Tuesday from noon to 4 p.m., back in a more central location.
Haliburton Business Improvement Area (BIA) board chair, David Zilstra, wrote a letter in support of the move, saying several downtown merchants reported a decreased presence of shoppers on market days. He said the market is “tucked out of site” at Rotary Beach park.
According to Zilstra, Country Pickins sales were down an average of 40 to 60 per cent on market days this year, with Glecoff’s Family Store noting a 15 per cent drop, and Russell Red Records a 30 per cent decline.
“The connection [between the market and downtown] is now broken, but it can be fixed easily by bringing it back to its old location,” Zilstra wrote.
Taylor noted the market had been located at Head Lake Park for 11 years. She said there were many benefits to that site, primarily accessibility for older residents. Taylor said the market executive would be willing to work with council on a resolution, while offering the township a seat on its board.
Fearrey said he was concerned about damage to the park. He proposed a $1,000 fee be applied to the market for each event in July, August, and September, with a $700 fee applied for any other month. Deputy mayor Walt McKechnie supported that addition.
“I think that’s fair. It will help us build a fund to fix things at the end of the season… we can’t be subsidizing anything [extra] today. People are concerned this is costing taxpayers money,” McKechnie said.
During the meeting, Taylor noted the market has around 40 vendors during its summer peak, dropping to between 20 and 30 in spring and fall. All vendors pay $300 per season to appear at the market.
Addressing concerns coun. Pat Casey and Nancy Wood-Roberts had about increased traffic in the downtown, and a lack of parking, Fearrey felt running the market earlier in the day could help. He suggested new hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., which Taylor felt was workable.
The mayor also stipulated that vendors should park vehicles in the Rotary Beach parking lot, freeing up space at Head Lake Park, and that the market assign an attendant to limit parking along Highland Street. “If they don’t like [the changes], they can get back to us,” Fearrey said.
