Find out what's new and exciting at Edinburgh Farmers' Market here. All the activities that are happening at the market and awards that stallholder have won, as well as details of all in-season produce.
Market Temporarily Closed
Following the latest Government guidance on new restrictions due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and our own discussions with Police Scotland and Edinburgh Council, we have decided to temporarily close the Edinburgh Farmers’ Market.
Sadly, this temporary closure will significantly affect many of our market traders, to whom the farmers’ market is a large, and in some cases majority source of their revenue. So, it is with sadness that we have taken these measures, but we believe it is the responsible thing to do given the circumstances.
We have come to this difficult decision because the Edinburgh Farmers Market is a unique attraction which attracts customers from a far wider geographical area than just the local neighbourhood in the way many supermarket branches may. We have run surveys in the past to see where our customers have traveled from, and there has been a significant proportion that travel from beyond Edinburgh. Therefore, we don’t want to encourage people from making longer journeys than are necessary. Additionally, Edinburgh Farmers’ Market cannot currently provide all household essentials in the same way larger stores can, and so we want to discourage people making more shopping trips than necessary.
The market was open last week with additional spacing measures, appropriate to the guidelines at the time and we want to take the opportunity to thank all customers who attended and cooperated so well forming orderly, well-spaced queues. We are really proud of how all stallholders and member of the public engaged responsibly. In no way has this week’s closure been due how the market ran last week, but entirely due to the change in Government guidelines and to do our part in the vital work of slowing the spread of the virus.
We will continue to monitor the latest government guidelines, so we can re-open when it is safe and responsible to do so.
Lastly, please do consider continuing to SUPPORT OUR PRODUCERS by taking advantage of any delivery services that they might offer. It’s a tough time for many of us, and our producers will be no exception. To help, we will be reaching out to all producers to compile a list of any delivery options they are providing and making that information widely available on our website and social channels in the coming days.
Stay safe, and please, if possible, stay at home.
