NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Fresh and Artisanal Foods from the Catskills, Live Entertainment, Artworks, Cooking Demos, Children’s Gardening Activities and More
A Lively Community Gathering Every Weekend
The heart of downtown New Rochelle will transform into a vibrant community gathering place each Saturday beginning in June, when an expanded New Rochelle Business Improvement District Grand Market brings foods from the Catskills, live entertainment, cooking demonstrations, gardening activities for children and much more.
A new relationship with farmers in the Catskills will bring fresh and cured meats, cheeses, poultry and fresh produce from that unspoiled region’s bounty. But the weekly event will be much more than just a farmers’ market. The Grand Market will be a celebration each Saturday, June 4 through October 29 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Ruby Dee Park at the Library Green on Huguenot Street between Lawton Street and Memorial Highway.
Thousands of visitors are expected to shop, enjoy music, pick up cooking tips from regional culinary masters and enjoy fun activities including the annual sweet potato pie-eating contest run by the Luscious Little Dessert Company. Activities to entertain and educate children will include a gardening experience, lawn games, entertainers and fun with arts and crafts.
“The Grand Market is sure to be a highlight of the week each Saturday, and a meeting place for neighbors and visitors,” said Ralph DiBart, executive director of the New Rochelle Downtown BID, a not-for-profit organization that runs the market. “Visit us and you’ll discover so much more than we have offered in the past. You’ll peruse irresistible produce, meats and cheeses, and other treats including artisanal sausages, cider and maple syrup. While you’re there, you can savor great snacks and prepared foods, enjoy live entertainment, join in the games, and show your kids a wonderful time. We hope that you will visit us and support us as we ‘Grow the Grand.’ When you do, you will be joining in a more vibrant and lively community.”
Visitors who join in the Market’s success will also be helping the BID in its commitment to sustainability. The market will do its part to help the environment by supporting farmers in the Catskills, helping to preserve the ecological health of a region that is home to the reservoirs that hold much of Westchester’s drinking water. (Watch for more sustainability projects coming from the BID in the coming weeks.)
Among the other highlights at the market:
– Crafts from local artisans will be on display and available for purchase.
– Food trucks will offer a variety of snacks and meals for every palate.
– Lawn games will include Twister, corn toss and a giant Connect Four.
– An outdoor reading room with carts of books to browse and read while basking in sunshine.
– A raffle will be held at the end of the season for a family of four to win a visit to the Catskills and see the origins of the foods they’ve been enjoying.
A coloring book, “Baba and Oinky go to the New Rochelle BID Farmer’s Market,” will be available.
The farms and craft food purveyors involved include Castkill Mountain Sugar House, Betty Acres Farm, Mauer’s Mountain Farms, Greenane Farms, Evans & Evans, Catskill Food Company, Upstate’s Creations, Cooperstown Cheese Co, and more.
Sponsors of the Grand Market include: The Culinary Institute of NY at Monroe College, Green Mountain Energy, Community Preservation Corporation, A. Bulfamante Landscaping and Halstead New Rochelle.
The Grand Market comes to a downtown that poised for a new era of growth, with a historic City plan to add 5,500 residential units and almost 3 million square feet of retail and office space over the course of a decade.
“In the coming years, downtown will become ever more lively and attractive,” DiBart said. “But there’s no need to wait. This summer, spring and autumn, downtown will be bustling each Saturday with great people, fun activities and of course, delicious foods.”