Gilroy Will Get A Full-Blown Farmers Market In June

After last year’s Leadership Gilroy class helped to turn an empty lot downtown into a thriving community garden, stomachs started rumbling: Would a growing interest in local food one day turn into a full-blown farmers market?

Here’s the answer, from Leadership Gilroy 2011: See you there!

This week, Gilroy’s annual leadership class announced plans for a celebration of local food and art on June 5. The Spice of Life Festival & Market will kick off a weekly farmers market downtown, according to class member Marc Perkel.

“Quite frankly, when I moved here, I was amazed that Gilroy didn’t already have a farmers market,” said Perkel, who moved to Gilroy from San Bruno two years ago.

On its new website, the class outlined plans for the kickoff event. More than 50 vendors are expected to attend the festival that combines Gilroy food and culture.

“We want to be known not only for our garlic, but for our community and our history,” said Cheryl Ellemberg, another member of the 2011 class.

After the kickoff event, the Gilroy Demonstration Garden, located next to the Gilroy Arts Alliance at 7341 Monterey St., will continue to conduct a farmers market downtown every week, Perkel said. 

During the past 12 years, each annual Leadership Gilroy class has created a program to benefit the community, said Susan Valenta, president of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce and one of Leadership Gilroy’s founding members.

Many recognizable local figures have graduated from the nine-month course, meant to give participants a sense of leadership and a sample of the different elements that define Gilroy.

“The whole purpose was to create a core group of people over the years to take on leadership roles in the community,” she said.

The 2011 class chose to work on setting up a farmers market as its project, Perkel said.

The closest farmers market to Gilroy is in Morgan Hill. It runs every Saturday from May to September.

A farmers market in Gilroy would take advantage of an increasing interest in local food, one that has grown along with the popular Gilroy Demonstration Garden.

While garden organizers arrange to sell fresh, organic food during “Organic Saturdays,” it stops short of being a full-blown market.

“The farmers market fit into that very nicely,” Ellemberg said.

It will take $5,000 to afford the permits and facilities needed to hold the event in June. Sponsorships will help pay for that.

Supporters are awarded increasing levels of publicity and prestige, depending on their level of sponsorship, from a $25 "seed" to the $1,000 "garlic."

Those interested in being a part of the festival can contact Leadership Gilroy HERE.

Correction: The original version of this article said that the Gilroy Arts Alliance would coordinate the farmers market after the June festival. In fact, Judy Hess and volunteers at the Gilroy Demonstration Garden will take over after the kickoff. The article has been changed to reflect the correction.