Amphitheatre farmers market to add night market, will accept SNAP/EBT payment
By Stuart Korfhage
Posted Mar 3, 2018 at 2:01 AM
St. Augustine Record
Katie Provow and her husband, Nick, decided last year to take over management of the farmers market at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre with the intention of doing more than just maintaining the status quo.
While that might not have been apparent in the first few months after taking over in August, it’s about to become pretty obvious.
Provow and the Amphitheatre announced some major additions to the market, some of which start with today’s event. That includes the acceptance of — and matching the funds for — SNAP/EBT benefits.
But the biggest change will begin March 27 when the first of the monthly night markets takes place, scheduled for 6-9 p.m. and includes entertainment.
“The idea is to make it more of an entertaining night out,” Provow said. “We’re going to try a couple different things on the entertainment side to see what sticks.”
The original request for proposal said the manager might have the use of the facility on some weekdays, so Provow decided to take advantage of the opportunity and create something of a new audience. She said the Saturday morning market doesn’t work for everyone and doesn’t appeal to everyone, so this will be a different experience.
“There’s a couple of night markets around the state,” she said. “There’s one in Gainesville and one in Orlando, a couple others that have seen some real success, so the Amphitheatre management thought that was a great idea, too, and really a way to make use of their space on some weeknights where it’s not in use.”
The night markets will feature about 90 booths, which is down slightly from Saturday mornings (about 110 vendors).
Each night will have different entertainment. The first night market will feature local indie band The Young Step playing on the Front Porch at 6:30 p.m. Additional confirmed night market entertainment includes a screening of “Revenge of the Creature,” hosted by the Historical Society on April 24, the annual Friends of the St. Augustine Amphitheatre Guitar Raffle on May 22 and a Contra/Square Dancing night hosted by Skin & Bonz on June 26.
If the response is good, Provow said the night markets will expand to two times a month in July.
It isn’t just the night markets that have additional programming, though. On the first Saturday of every month, The Yoga Collective will host a donation-based yoga class on the Front Porch. On the fourth Saturday of each month, chef Amy Rupert Secol will create dishes from ingredients purchased directly from the vendors at the market that morning. Visitors can watch her live demonstration, taste samples and get the recipe to make the dish at home.
For the Amphitheatre, the expansion of the offerings at the market is just another opportunity to provide programming to the community beyond the normal music acts, said Dianya Markovits, marketing and community relations manager.
“This is the first time I’ve ever experienced a large-scale market that had more than just food,” she said. “It has hands-on activities and these community info booths where you learn about a nonprofit you might not have heard about and you can get involved with.
“It really is furthering our mission of being firmly rooted in the community along with providing entertainment. It helps the Amphitheatre opens its doors to a much broader audience.”
Artist Toni DeWitt of Westside Studio Clay Arts has been a longtime vendor at the market and said it remains an important part of the community.
“It’s hard to find a forum that does what the farmers market does,” she said. “It’s a way of life. There are locals who have been coming since the day it started.”
Making it even more appealing to some shoppers is the initiative to participate in the Fresh Access Bucks program. A program of the Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers Inc. (FOG), Fresh Access Bucks (FAB) is a statewide incentive program designed to encourage SNAP recipients to redeem their benefits at farmers markets to purchase fresh, healthy foods directly from Florida farmers. Through the partnership, the St. Augustine Amphitheatre Farmers Market will match up to $40 in SNAP/EBT funds for cardholders each week.
Provow said it took some time to organize the effort to accept SNAP/EBT funds because every vendor at the market has to participate if it sells qualifying goods. She said the management is taking on all of the obligations for new equipment/technology needed to perform the transactions.
Barbecue chef Michael Brooks, who owns County Road Provisions, has been coming to the market since the fall and supports the vision of Provow and the Amphitheatre.
“That’s just another source of income,” Brooks said of the EBT/SNAP addition. “That sounds like a really good program.”
The only consistent complaint he’s ever heard from market customers — and which was also noted by DeWitt — is that there isn’t enough parking. Some visitors wait 15-20 minutes or more to get in at peak times.
But it wouldn’t be so crowded if people didn’t like it so much.
“It seems to be getting bigger and bigger,” Brooks said. “The whole idea is to support the locals. That’s what that market is all about.”
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