With the summer heat fast approaching, outdoor activities are finally making a return, including outdoor farmer markets.  

Beginning on Sunday, May 18, Garden City will host its first farmer’s market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday until Sept. 28.

With a mix of farm booths and rotating local makers, more than 30 vendors are expected to participate in the Garden City market.

Faith Lockhart, senior marketing manager for Garden City, says including vendors that were Rhode Island based was an important factor when putting this all together.

This newest market is part of the Rhode Island Grown program, an initiative of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s Division of Agriculture.  

According to DEM, the program aims to educate consumers about the benefits of buying direct from local farmers.  “Buying direct enables you to see just exactly where your food comes from, for health and peace of mind. And of course, the ability to get the freshest of the fresh produce is no small factor,” states the Rhode Island Grown homepage.

The Garden City farmer’s market project began after Lockhart said they received a lot of customer feedback that indicated high demand for a market.

She says people seem to be really excited about the initiative. According to Lockhart, the initial announcement posted on Instagram had 152,000 views and 2,700 likes – atypical engagement for the photos they usually post on the account.

Lockhart said they contracted Lupe Aguilar, founder of Rhode Island Night Market to manage the Garden City farmer’s market. Aguilar’s business is an events-focused bazaar that highlights local vendors, artists and small businesses. 

A Cranston resident, Aguilar calls the upcoming farmer’s market, “a market for everyone.”

Keeping the focus on Rhode Island vendors and talent, Aguilar said they will be working with local musicians to bring live music every week. He said there will also be a local craft beer garden in collaboration with Newport Restaurant Group.

The market will also feature kid-friendly activities such as a bubble vendor to life-size dinosaurs from the Roger Williams Zoo on Sunday, May 25.  There will also be rotating food trucks every week and some Garden City shops will participate with small pop-ups throughout the market.  

With Garden City centrally located with convenient highway access, Aguilar says those factors make it accessible for people and invites the whole state, not just people from Cranston.

Hoping to keep this a permanent fixture, Aguilar says events like these are needed to bring people back out, where they can be social, put the phone down and build community.

“It's so multifaceted,” Aguilar said. “We're helping the local makers, the local farmers, the local craft beer folks, the local musicians that are getting paid to be there, but we're also bringing the community together with a reason to get out of the house on a beautiful Sunday morning and afternoon.”

With over 300+ vendors signed up for the season, Aguilar says this weekly event aims to help everyone involved. His motivation, to hammer home that local economy from the “dirt” up.

The Garden City Farmer’s Market will start the season on Sunday, May 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and will run until Sept. 28. The Pawtuxet Village Farmer’s Market started on May 3 and will run through October 25 from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays at Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet.