Patrick and Fiona Moffat with The Market at Red Deer. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

53rd annual

The Market at Red Deer closes ‘spectacular’ year at new location

Oct 7, 2023 | 12:53 PM

After one full season, organizers of The Market at Red Deer — AKA the Red Deer Farmers’ Market — say their new location couldn’t have offered a much better experience over the last five months.

Patrick, Fiona and of course their father Dennis, collectively the Moffats, took the market in its 53rd year to the campus of Red Deer Polytechnic, where upwards of 120 vendors would show up each Saturday morning to vend their wares. That’s up about 17 per cent from a year ago.

Patrick Moffat says expectations were not high after getting the news they couldn’t return to their longtime home in the parking lot at Servus Arena and the Pidherney Centre.

“We were gutted to start the season, but after meeting with the polytechnic and looking at the future, we had some hope,” he says. “It’s been far better than expected. This location is probably the best place we could be and I think most customers and vendors would agree.”

Partnering with RDP has also led to talks on how the Moffats and folks at the institution can work together on future green initiatives, Moffat shares.

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The market being there has also brought more eyes to the polytechnic, he says.

“We’ve also had the best weather we’ve ever had. Dennis has meticulously kept records over the years of what happens over the weekend,” he says. “We recently had a look back over the 53 years and couldn’t find a better one. We’ve had good weather every Saturday except for one where it was a little cloudy. It’s been spectacular.”

With the way things are going, Moffat sees a healthy future for the market in 2024 and beyond.

The Market at Red Deer is slated to be back at the RDP starting on May Long Weekend 2024.