The Apex Farmers Market is facing an important season in 2013 and market manager Debbie Lubcker is doing everything she can to make sure its not a grand finale.
The market’s opening day is set for Saturday, April 6 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of the chamber of commerce building in downtown Apex.
The day will feature cooking demonstrations from Chef Claudio and Apex High School culinary arts students, as well as musical performances by the Apex High orchestra and Kyle Scobie.
More than 20 vendors will offer a variety of items, including fresh strawberries, lettuce, spinach, carrots, onions, turnips, radishes, argula, Swiss chard, sun chokes and kale.
New to the market this year is the “Kids Zone” with games, storytelling, face painting, balloon animals and arts and crafts booths.
The cooking demos, musical entertainment and children’s area are all new weekly features that Lubcker hopes will attract more people to the market.
After poor attendance numbers in 2012, there is a strong possibility the market will fold at the end of the year.
“We’ve changed a lot of things,” said Lubcker. “We will either make it or not this season. We aren’t funded by anybody, we don’t have any sponsors and it takes a lot of work to run a market.
“I’m not trying to overplay it but I’m also not going to sugarcoat it. We haven’t been doing real well and some of our bigger vendors are looking to pull out if things don’t improve.”
Lubcker said she hopes the new features will bring more families to the market.
“We need the community to come out and support us,” said Lubcker. “So, I’m trying to offer new things for families to enjoy. The adults can shop and look at all the wonderful things our vendors are offering while the children can have fun in the Kids Zone.”
Lubcker also has a new website, www.apexfarmersmarket.com,that provides information on weekly events, regular vendors and guest vendors.
“Pretty much every town has a farmers market,” said Lubcker. “We have a lot of people in Apex and it would be sad if we didn’t have a market. I’ll know by the end of the season whether we will have one anymore or not.”
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