Efforts to revive a local farmers market in Winters are underway.
Chris Turkovich, Downtown Business Association President and owner of Turkovich Family Wines, told the Winters Express in a phone call that currently they are waiting for approval from Yolo County to make it official, but Winters DBA received the go-ahead from city staff to begin marketing the Sunday Farmers Market on social media.
Ahmad (Simba) Baratti, of Simba’s Heirloom Farm, is coordinating the efforts and submitted the application to Yolo County. According to Turkovich, once they receive County approval they will return to the Winters City Council to request a modification to the street closure schedule approved in February.
At the Feb. 7 Winters City Council meeting, council members approved that Main Street would be closed from the Railroad Avenue intersection to the crosswalk at Paseo Park from the last weekend in March through the last weekend in October from Friday to Sunday afternoon (before noon) for 2023. City Manager Kathleen Trepa noted the city has staff scheduled to work until noon on Sundays and the reopening of the street would need to be aligned with the schedule.
Turkovich said that Winters DBA will request the council to modify the Sunday reopening to go back to an all-day Sunday closure to accommodate for the Sunday Farmers Market timeframe of 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
However, the organizers are waiting for county approval before the street closure can be brought to Winters City Council.
In the meantime, agricultural-related vendors can contact Baratti for more information on how to sign up to participate in the Sunday Farmers Market by sending an email to simba@simbasheirloomfarm.com.
Turkovich said Winters DBA reached out to Baratti because he has experience and knowledge about organizing farmers markets. Winters DBA will continue to help promote and rally the community to participate and attend.
“This is our second effort at a farmers market. We tried it about 10 years ago and it didn’t quite work out. By putting it on Main Street and having the support of the community, we’re hoping this farmers market will last,” he said.
Upon approval of the county, the Sunday Farmers Market is expected to run every Sunday from June 11 to Sept. 24 on downtown Main Street from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Turkovich said updates will be shared in the Winters Express and on the Discover Winters website and social media accounts.
