The Chattanooga Market is the region's largest producer-only

arts and crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

and

farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...

. It is held every Sunday from April to December at the open-air First Horizon Pavilion in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, typically from 11am until 4pm (hours can vary for special events). The market has over 300 vendors, and attracts an audience of 6,000 visitors each weekend; admission is free.

History

The market was founded in 2001 by Nick & Elizabeth Jessen, who modeled it after the Saturday Market in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

. In 2008, the market announced it was closing due to "not reaching a point of independent operation" but was quickly sold and reopened by a new management team. All items sold at the Chattanooga Market are required to be handmade, grown, created or otherwise the direct efforts of the person selling it, and a review panel reviews each new item against a minimum standard of quality prior to sale to the public. The Chattanooga Market is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

to promote local farming, community events & small business development.

Events

The Chattanooga Market features a new event theme each weekend, ranging from Bluegrass music days to Oktoberfest Chattanooga Times-Free Press, "Chattanooga: Oktoberfest celebrates VW"
celebrations, from celebrity chef cooking competitions to Holiday Market, its art-centric season finale. A new event schedule is published each year, and does vary from year-to-year.

References

External links

Official website

Twitter
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