This Saturday, Aug. 1, the Vance County Regional Farmers Market is offering up a little musical food for the soul to go along with all that fresh produce, yummy baked goods and colorful cut flowers, courtesy of Mysti Mayhem.
The Durham-based singer and songwriter brings her unique sound of soulful blues to the market for a performance from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Market Manager Stephen Wolf said folks are in for not just a musical treat, but a culinary one as well.
Mayhem’s husband is going to conduct a cooking class that involves making homemade mozzarella and different types of pesto.
Having live music is just one way Wolf wants to try to attract new visitors to the market. He’s been in the job close to a month now, and he said he’s pleased with the level of vendor participation and patrons.
And on days when there’s special entertainment, like this Saturday, the market will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., giving customers an extra hour to shop.
Last weekend’s rainy weather didn’t dampen attendance, he said on Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny!
There were more than 500 shoppers from Vance and other nearby counties, he said.
“Everyone is seeing the importance of shopping local,” he said, adding that he wants that sentiment to continue to grow.
From produce, fruit, baked goods and farm-raised meats to cut flowers and handicrafts, the market’s vendors provide a wide variety of products for customers to enjoy.
“I’ve gotten so much great feedback from the shoppers and vendors alike,” Wolf said, expressing their satisfaction with turnout and advertising, all to support the “eat local” philosophy.
Another way to support the “eat local” phenomenon with younger customers involves using technology. And QR codes.
Tech-savvy customers can create a personal QR code to get their names in the bucket for a raffle at the close of the season, Wolf said. There’s also a loyalty program that will reward repeat customers with a branded, reusable shopping bag after three trips. Customers who shop at the market five times will earn a little off their total shopping bill, he explained.
Of course, the QR code may not appeal to everyone and that’s fine, too.
While it’s one way to see how many visitors the market has on a given day, Wolf said he’d continue to use that ancient, muscle-powered device known as the handheld clicker.
“I will definitely still be operating the clicker,” he said.
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