Low summer attendance leads to cancellation of monthly markets

New plans include holiday market

Going on the strength of community requests, the Manor Park Community Council and Ottawa Street Markets mapped out a monthly schedule for our introductory Sip & Shop Markets. A licensed affair, the idea was to create an event based on food, drink and fun for the kids with a side of shopping.

We scheduled them for the last Saturday of every month. The first few were indoors at the new 1805 Gaspé Community Hub. (This is now the facility’s official name.)

Although the weather outdoors did not cooperate, the auditorium and foyer provided safe haven for vendors and visitors alike. Local residents came to have a drink, a bite to eat and engage with local vendors. During the months of February, March and April, all went well.
Winter led to spring and we moved Sip & Shop outdoors for the May and June editions. Both dates had beautiful weather, great vendor attendance and live music.

Sadly, very few people attended.

Everyone involved was quick to blame other events across the city for poaching our crowd. That may have indeed been the case. But Ottawa has multiple events on each weekend of the summer. If we were to work our schedule around what everyone else is doing, we would never do anything.

Needless to say, the organizers of Sip & Shop were jolted enough by the poor numbers in May and June to cancel July and August. By the time this is published, September will have arrived. I am sad to announce that we will cancel all remaining Sip & Shops for this year. The risk of low turnout is too great.

Perhaps not the correct formula, we will go back to the drawing board. To start things off, we’ll hold a holiday market on December 2. Stay tuned for those details.

We are actively building up the new community hub. Here are a few other things going on at 1805 Gaspé:

• Your Farm Store – a condensed version of all Ottawa Street Markets’ outdoor markets under one roof. Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday 3 to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to noon. There is also an online ordering option, available for pick up or delivery at
  www.ottstreetmarkets.ca.
• Polaris School and Centre – a Waldorf school with a holistic approach to education www.polarisschool.ca.
• Manor Park Community Council Child Care Centre – a team of Registered Early Childhood educators creating a warm and safe atmosphere www.manorpark.ca.
• Baccanalle Foods, Caribbean Food – tasty takeout or catering in your neighbourhood www.baccanalle.com.
• Facilities rental – various spaces are available to rent for parties, meetings and shows, mpcc@manorpark.ca for inquiries.

There are other efforts in the works to make 1805 Gaspé a destination. If you want to stay in the know, you can visit manorpark.ca, sign up for Ottawa Street Markets newsletter at ottstreetmarkets.ca or follow the property on Instagram @1805Gaspe.

Chris Penton is the president of Ottawa Street Markets, which includes Beechwood Market.