Until the pandemic, the summer Portland Farmers’ Market was held in Monument Square. This photo from our archives was taken in 2019. Now, farmers will return to the square.
Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer The seasonal arts-based outdoor marketplace known as Monument(al) Market in the Square will include farmer vendors this year, according to market organizers. Portland Downtown Executive Director Cary Tyson said he hopes to sign on six to 10 farmers for the market, which will be held Fridays from June 14 through October from 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m. Tyson said Portland Downtown is offering to pay half of the $100 city permit fee for the first 10 farmers who commit to the market in Monument Square this year, and that interested vendors can apply online .
“In my fantasy, I’d love to fill the entire Monument Square with makers and farmers, but if I can get six to 10 farmers I’d be thrilled,” Tyson said. Monument Square was the site of the Wednesday Portland summer farmers markets in the years before 2020. But with COVID, the market moved to Deering Oaks, where the Saturday market is also held, to make social distancing easier .
Though the pandemic ended, it never moved back. The Monument(al) Market will still have local makers. Portland Downtown has hosted the makers’ market for the last two years , which Tyson said usually featured between six and 10 vendors.
Tyson noted that the addition of farm stands to the market is part of a continuing effort to “bring vibrancy to.