When the Hollister Downtown Certified Farmers’ Market opens next week, it’s springing up in a new location on San Benito Street, along with having extended hours to accommodate commuters.
“I think that it should be pretty good. I think that it should give people more room to move around,” said Mike Mansmith, who owns Mansmith’s BBQ, one of the vendors planning to set up shop at the market next Wednesday, May 7.
The market’s move to San Benito Street came to fruition earlier this year, after Caltrans handed over ownership of Hollister’s main street to the city in early March. The street was formerly a part of Highway 25, and the change of ownership gives local officials more leeway when planning events on San Benito Street.
“It’s kind of always been their dream, and because originally it was a highway they couldn’t,” said Market Manager Tammy Jackson.
As the market’s 21-week season kicks off, it is extending the weekly schedule by 30 minutes to run from 3 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. this year from May through September – giving Hollister residents with long commutes another half-hour to get to the market and enjoy some fresh, local produce.
Along with the street change, there are new vendor arrivals this year, including several with gluten-free options. A new pasta booth – Pensi Pasta – will bring a few wheat, barley and rye-free pastas, along with olives, salsas and spreads. The market will also welcome Sweets Gluten Free Bakery, which offers only gluten-free treats, including cookies, lemon bars, biscotti and sweet breads.
Turlock-based Cipponeri Farms also will join the market to sell stone fruits, nuts and 15 varieties of specialty melons.
Though the market will have some fresh faces, others will be familiar, including the popular HOG Farm that will sell asparagus for the first few weeks of the market until the crop’s harvesting season ends.
A farmers’ market has existed in Hollister in some form for a quarter century. This year will mark the 26th year when vendors of produce and BBQ have taken to the city streets to sell their goods, Jackson said. In 2004, the market came under the control of the Hollister Downtown Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to revitalizing the city’s central business district.
This year’s market will include the traditional children’s area on the lawn in front of the parking garage off Fourth and San Benito streets so children can play in the bounce house and enjoy laser tag, face painting and balloon animals while their parents peruse the local produce.
“It’s almost more of a gathering – not just the farmers’ market,” Jackson said. “You get young and old and whole families later in evenings. It’s just kind of neat to have something like that downtown.”
MARKET INFO
The application period to join the market as a vendor is still open. Contact the market manager, Tammy Jackson, for more information at (408) 804-1234 or [email protected].
MARKET HISTORY
The Hollister Certified Farmers’ Market can trace its beginning back 27 years to 1987 when Allan and Kathy Ritter and a volunteer committee held the first market on Sixth Street, between San Benito and Monterey Streets, explained HDA Executive Director Brenda Weatherly in an email. The market has not operated continually since it began and shifted through a variety of locations over the years including East Street, Fifth Street, San Benito Street and the parking lot in front of the Coronet Store on Airline Highway.
