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Sidney Street Market has a lot to offer

Summer market on Beacon Avenue opens tonight (May 14) and runs every Thursday until August 27.
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Sidney Street Market co-ordinator Laurie McDermid

F            or Laurie McDermid, putting together a season’s worth of street markets in Sidney can be like a jigsaw puzzle.

This year, however, she says she’s certain all the right pieces have fallen into place.

The 2015 Sidney Street Market opens tomorrow evening (Thursday, May 14) and runs every Thursday between 5:30  and 8:30 p.m. on Beacon Avenue.

McDermid, owner of Westcoast Impressions, has been running the street market for two seasons and says the challenge is finding the right balance of vendors and performers that will make each market a special one.

“There is something for absolutely everyone,” she says. “There’s music, fashion, vegetables and unique gifts. There will some new vendors this year and many of the more popular ones from years past.”

McDermid says the process of picking vendors for the annual spring and summer event starts almost immediately after the previous market ends. She says she attends a variety of shows and markets throughout the year and finds unique people and their creations she thinks would be a good fit for Sidney’s market.

“The music is always a huge drawing card. There’s always enough to spread it out at each market night.”

Food vendors, too, have a following, and she has brought back many of the best flavours from previous markets in Sidney.

“It’s a market that people will not forget after they come here,” she says.

“It has a lot to offer and the experience of being in Sidney — it’s a farmer’s market by the sea.”

The market is not only an attraction in its own right, but McDermid adds Sidney is a great backdrop.

If nothing else, she continues, people will visit the market and get to love the community.

Overall, McDermid says this year’s Sidney Street Market will have more than 200 participants over the total of 16 market nights on Beacon Avenue.

“It’s a little more than last year,” she says. “It’s a good variety and a good percentage of the vendors this year are new.”

McDermid adds she loves putting together the market events and works hard to meet the challenge of coming up with a mix of something for anyone who visits.

Market nights close off Beacon Avenue to vehicles from Fifth Street to First Street

To learn more about the Sidney Street Market, visit sidney.ca or facebook.com/SidneyStreetMarket.