Elgin Farmers Market kicks off June 5 with face masks, other changes

The Elgin Farmers Market will kick off its 2020 season Friday at a new location and with new regulations such as requiring face masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The outdoor market is organized by the Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin and will take place Fridays on Spring Street from Grove Avenue to Chicago Street, about a block east of its usual location. That will allow a six-foot distance between vendor booths, organizers said.

Farmers markets are deemed essential businesses under Gov. J.B. Pritzker's executive orders, which means customers will be able to shop for fresh local foods, pet products, baked goods and body care items. Nonessential items such as crafts, jewelry and art products will be added as regulations allow, organizers said.

Vendors will be the only ones handling products until sale and there will be no food samples.

There will be no live music, chef demos or sale of food for on-site consumption, including food trucks, at least for the first month, farmers market manager Christina Gonzales said. "We hopefully will add them in as restrictions lift," she said.

"Some people may be hesitant of shopping inside a crowded grocery store," she said. "At an outdoor open-air market, we'll try to eliminate that fear while still supporting our local vendors and bringing some life into our downtown."

The decisions were made with guidance from the Illinois Farmers Market Association and the city of Elgin, organizers said.

The market will run 3 to 7 p.m. Fridays through Oct. 2. Spring will be closed to through traffic from Chicago to Grove from 1 to 8 p.m. on those days. Customers are encouraged to park in Elgin's free public parking decks or in the parking lot of Festival Park.

For more information, visit downtownelgin.com/farmersmarket.