Saturday was the U-District Street Fair. The community center which hosts the local farmers' market usually raises money during the fair by collecting fees for parking, using the lot that they lease to the market on ordinary Saturdays.
This year at the market vendors' annual meeting we debated whether or not to hold the market during the street fair. (It wasn't much of an issue in the past, because the market didn't run all year, but started up the week after the event.)
We considered the fact that stall fees would be higher, to compensate the community center for lost parking revenue. In addition, many of the market regulars wouldn't come, because the parking situation would be so hairy.
On the other hand, continuity is important, and those regulars who would show up expecting a market shouldn't be disappointed. And the street fair had the potential to introduce a whole new crowd to the market, people who happened to be in the area but wouldn't ordinarily think to come.
I took the day off, but I couldn't help myself from stopping by to see how things were going. The market was half its usual size, but it felt busy. The vendors I spoke to said their sales were about average, but they'd seen very few regular customers. Who knows? Maybe they picked up some new ones.
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