This is a community announcement from the Ithaca Farmers Market. It was not written by The Ithaca Voice. To submit community announcements, please send them to Matt Butler at mbutler@ithacavoice.org.

Ithaca Farmers Market is reopening their midweek Downtown Market on Tuesday afternoons this summer beginning on June 27, 2023. Once again held at DeWitt Park, the market will be open from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays through September 19, 2023. 

The Tuesday Market was previously held at DeWitt Park for more than 30 years before the complex logistics of keeping customers and vendors safe during the pandemic at the main Steamboat Landing location prompted an IFM Board decision to cancel the Tuesday Market in 2020. As a result, both the organization and vendors experienced a significant loss of income and downtown residents lost an easy access point for fresh food.

Three years later, we are thrilled to announce that the Downtown Market is returning to DeWitt Park! The project is funded by the Tompkins Community Recovery Fund (TCRF) with fiscal sponsorship from Friends of the Ithaca Farmers Market. The TCRF was established by the Tompkins County Legislature and will distribute $6.53m of American Rescue Plan Act (APRA) funding to communities and organizations for the benefit of Tompkins County residents. 

Earlier this year, during the initial phase of the project, Ithaca Farmers Market and Friends of the Ithaca Farmers Market engaged Park Fellows in the Cornell MBA Program to conduct a community and vendor questionnaire to determine interest and location, day and time preferences. There was a resounding interest by the community, 87% of 785 respondents indicated that they would shop at a downtown weekday market. 

Downtown Ithaca residents will once again have access to farm-fresh groceries, prepared food, and other market goods, and they will be able to use their EBT/SNAP card to make purchases. We also hope the Downtown Market can become a gathering place, a microcosm of our Pavilion at Steamboat Landing. We plan to have live music and/or family entertainment at each Tuesday during market hours throughout this summer, and we invite customers to bring their families or meet up with friends to enjoy everything we have to offer.