Postponed: Danville Farmers Market Reopening

DANVILLE, CA — UPDATED: The planned reopening of the Danville Farmers' Market on Saturday has been postponed due to community concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak, city officials and the Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association said Friday.

Officials said they decided to hold off on reopening the market after concerns started pouring in from residents.

"We understand the concerns that are being voiced by our residents and we want to be mindful of them, so we started working with the PCFMA on how to address them," Danville Economic Development Manager Jill Bergman said Friday in a release.

The market, held at the Railroad Avenue parking lot, had closed in March. The city said Thursday that it was set to reopen this weekend after two weeks of planning measures for social distancing, including limitations on the number of vendors and booths and a ban on non-essential vendors or activities.

PREVIOUS STORY: The Danville Farmers Market will be open Saturday after being suspended in March due to the shelter in place order that was in effect because of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, according to the Danville Police Department.

The market is held at the Railroad Avenue parking lot.

Danville and the Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association have worked to create guidelines under which the market could reopen.

The guidelines include:
- Limitations on the number of vendors and booths with plenty if space between each booth.
- A ban on non-essential vendors or activities including entertainment, hot food and community booths.
- A ban on self-serving and sampling.
- There will be a hand washing station at the information booth.
- The restrooms will be closed.
- Customers will not be able to touch sale items prior to purchase.
- Producers will not be able to touch customers' reusable bags.
- Unpackaged food and cash will not be handled by the same person.
- Customers will be asked to wear masks, adhere to social distancing and follow any other regulations posted at the market.

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