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Basalt Sunday Market debuts June 21

Scott Condon
The Aspen Times
Aspen, CO Colorado
Basalt Sunday Market will start June 16 with vendors set up along Midland Spur by Lions Park. It will run through Sept. 29.
Courtesy photo

BASALT – When the Basalt Sunday Market debuts in downtown Basalt on June 21, organizers plan to give shoppers something unique, and to keep it fresh for the following 15 weeks.

The market will feature 14 food booths and 29 booths featuring crafts and other items. Eighty percent of the vendors filling those booths are from the Roaring Fork Valley and, of those, 50 percent are from Basalt or Carbondale. Local businesses were given strong preference in the selection process, said Kam Davies, an organizer of the market.

Uniqueness also was important. Davies didn’t have a precise number, but said the majority of vendors aren’t the same ones that shoppers encounter at Aspen’s Saturday Market.



Five vendors selling produce will be the anchors of Basalt’s Sunday Market. The list includes Divide Creek Farm of Silt, which uses solar-powered greenhouses for four-season growing. Those vendors will offer a changing lineup of fruits, veggies and greens throughout the 16 Sundays that the Basalt market will operate in its first season.

But Davies said the market won’t offer the same stuff each week. The organizers adopted an exhibit-style lineup in which booth space can be shared among users for shorter periods of the 16-week season. For example, artisans selling pottery, jewelry, paintings and photographs might split booth space, each taking it for four weeks.




“It keeps it fun because there’s always something new at the market,” Davies said.

The vendors’ booths will be set up on Midland Avenue between Saxy’s Cafe and the library, just outside of the downtown core. Lions Park will also be used for portions of the market, like dance classes, cooking exhibits and special presentations.

The concept of the market was born last winter when the town government hosted meetings where residents brainstormed on ideas to bring vitality to Basalt. A farmers’ and artisans’ market was an overwhelming favorite. Volunteers stepped up and made it happen.

Davies said early indications are that shoppers are enthused. “Oh my gosh, it’s hysterical actually,” she said.

The market will operate from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Sunday through Oct. 4.

scondon@aspentimes.com