The German Coast Farmers’ Market will celebrate their 21st anniversary on Saturday, June 15 with music from Kevin Gullage and door prizes.
The anniversary celebration will take place at the East Regional Library in Destrehan from 8 a.m. – noon. Along with a performance from Gullage, the market will also feature Anna the Clown, a balloon artist and snowballs.
Mary Keller, who handles marketing for the Farmers’ Market, expects to have 25 to 30 vendors at the celebration. She said the Destrehan market averages between 750 to 800 visitors per week, while the West Bank market held in Luling averages around 200 attendees.
“The fact that we are a year-round market makes a huge impact on our success,” Ann Montgomery, president of the market, said. “Stoping at the market becomes a part of your regular, weekly routine.”
Montgomery said the German Coast Farmers’ Market is important to the community because it allows small businesses to find support for their products, and also gives patrons the ability to “know their food.”
“Vendors establish relationships with their customers, as well as other vendors. We get to see families grow,” she said. “We see parents become grandparents and babies starting high school…it’s an amazing experience.”
Historians have described early German settlers as being instrumental in saving the New Orleans area from starvation by supplying produce to the New Orleans French Market and transporting crops up river via barges. The German Coast Farmers’ Market carries on those early German traditions of supplying fresh produce and wares to locals.
The 21st anniversary celebration is free to the public. For more information, visit www.germancoastfarmersmarket.org.
