Eugene Saturday Market
Encyclopedia
The Eugene Saturday Market is an outdoor craft
market in Eugene
, Oregon
. It is the oldest weekly open-air crafts market in the United States
. It has a festival
atmosphere that includes live performers as well craft booths and food vendors. Between 3,000 and 5,000 people visit the market every Saturday.
agreed to allow the group to continue using the site. More vendors joined the market as the Christmas holiday approached. The first season closed on the Saturday before Christmas with about one hundred vendors crowding into the market area.
At the end of the first season, established businesses adjacent to the Saturday Market venue petitioned the city to close or move the market. Lane County
commissioners offered a county-owned plaza, the Park Blocks, in front of the county courthouse for the market on condition that the Saturday market incorporate and secure liability insurance. As a result, the Eugene Saturday Market was officially established. This arrangement with Lane County allowed the use of the Park Blocks only during the summer months. In the fall, the vendors were required to move to the upper level of a county-owned parking structure, known as the "butterfly lot", across the street from the Park Blocks. The Eugene Saturday Market continued to operate in those two locations until the end of the 1982 season.
Over time, the Saturday markets held in the parking structure lost their customer base. As the number of vendors dwindled, the Saturday Market board of directors
began working with the City of Eugene and Lane County officials to find a new venue. In April 1983, the Eugene Saturday Market was relocated to a two-block park area at the intersection of Oak Street and 8th Avenue. This new venue was an attractive setting and had enough space for 100 to 125 vendors. It was also centrally located in the downtown areas. Over the years, this has helped attract people to the market. In 2006, the City of Eugene prepared a master plan for the Park Block area. The plan included the Saturday Market as an important element in the area's long-term development. Today, the Eugene Saturday Market is the oldest continuously operating weekly open-air crafts market in the United States. It inspired the creation of a similar market in Portland
, which took the same name, the Portland Saturday Market
, and has been in operation since 1974.
became an independent organization in 1989. While it has not been as successful financially as the Saturday Market, the farmers market is still open from April through November ever year.
, the market moves to the Lane County Fair
grounds where it is held indoors through Christmas Eve.
There is no admission charge and people walk through the market area freely. During a normal Saturday, between 3,000 and 5,000 people visit the market. Every year, shoppers buy approximately $2.5 million worth of handcrafts and food from Saturday Market vendors.
Everything sold at the Saturday Market is handcrafted
. In addition, all of the products for sale at the market must be sold by the person who made them or a member of their immediate family. The market offers a wide variety of handcrafted goods including artwork, jewelry, clothing, and craft furniture. Vendors also sell homemade jams, breads, and honey.
There are about seventeen food booths at the market. The food court features many global food cuisines, including Afghani
, English
, India
n, Mexican
, Thai
, and American
. The food booths must meet all state health department
regulations and licensing requirements. The food service operations are also subject to regular public health inspections.
The Eugene Saturday Market provides a venue for local musicians and other performing artists. There are six stage performances every week. The eleven o'clock performance is always for or by children. There are also strolling performers who play in open areas throughout the Park Blocks. During the course of a year, over one thousand performers appear on the Saturday Market stage.
Currently, there are over 700 members of the Eugene Saturday Market. About 300 of these members are active vendors who regularly sell crafts or food at the market. Members pay an annual $40 fee. On Saturdays, vendors pay $10 to rent an eight-foot by eight-foot booth or $5 for a four-foot by four-foot booth. Vendors must also pay ten percent of their sales revenue to the Saturday Market.
's first-best place for a family outing in The Register-Guard
s Readers' Choice awards in 2010.
. Its board of directors sets policy and oversees market operations. The board has nine members elected by Saturday Market members. Each director serves for 18 months and may be re-elected once. An election is held every three months with three director positions being filled at each election. The members of the board elect a chairperson, who serves for one year. The board also elects a treasurer.
The Saturday Market standards committee was established in 1981. It establishes guidelines for crafts sold at the market and is responsible for setting on-site marketing rules. It also resolves disputes between vendors. In addition, a budget committee works with the board of directors to ensure the organization remain financially healthy. The budget committee prepares an annual budget and a vendor fee schedule for board approval.
The board of directors hires employees and sets their salaries. Currently, there are only three full-time employees; a director, a financial coordinator, and a promotions coordinator. There are also twelve part-time employees who help set up and take down the stage and information booth on Saturdays.
Craft
A craft is a branch of a profession that requires some particular kind of skilled work. In historical sense, particularly as pertinent to the Medieval history and earlier, the term is usually applied towards people occupied in small-scale production of goods.-Development from the past until...
market in Eugene
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. It is the oldest weekly open-air crafts market in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It has a festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
atmosphere that includes live performers as well craft booths and food vendors. Between 3,000 and 5,000 people visit the market every Saturday.
History
The Eugene Saturday Market first opened on May 9, 1970 with 29 vendors. It was located on city property adjacent to a city-owned parking structure in downtown Eugene. Each vendor paid $1 to participate. On the opening Saturday, it rained all day. Nevertheless, the market was successful enough that the Eugene City CouncilCity council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
agreed to allow the group to continue using the site. More vendors joined the market as the Christmas holiday approached. The first season closed on the Saturday before Christmas with about one hundred vendors crowding into the market area.
At the end of the first season, established businesses adjacent to the Saturday Market venue petitioned the city to close or move the market. Lane County
Lane County, Oregon
-National protected areas:*Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge *Siuslaw National Forest *Umpqua National Forest *Willamette National Forest -Government:...
commissioners offered a county-owned plaza, the Park Blocks, in front of the county courthouse for the market on condition that the Saturday market incorporate and secure liability insurance. As a result, the Eugene Saturday Market was officially established. This arrangement with Lane County allowed the use of the Park Blocks only during the summer months. In the fall, the vendors were required to move to the upper level of a county-owned parking structure, known as the "butterfly lot", across the street from the Park Blocks. The Eugene Saturday Market continued to operate in those two locations until the end of the 1982 season.
Over time, the Saturday markets held in the parking structure lost their customer base. As the number of vendors dwindled, the Saturday Market board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
began working with the City of Eugene and Lane County officials to find a new venue. In April 1983, the Eugene Saturday Market was relocated to a two-block park area at the intersection of Oak Street and 8th Avenue. This new venue was an attractive setting and had enough space for 100 to 125 vendors. It was also centrally located in the downtown areas. Over the years, this has helped attract people to the market. In 2006, the City of Eugene prepared a master plan for the Park Block area. The plan included the Saturday Market as an important element in the area's long-term development. Today, the Eugene Saturday Market is the oldest continuously operating weekly open-air crafts market in the United States. It inspired the creation of a similar market in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, which took the same name, the Portland Saturday Market
Portland Saturday Market
The Portland Saturday Market is an outdoor arts and crafts market in Portland, Oregon. It is the largest continuously operated outdoor market in the United States. It is held every Saturday and Sunday from February 28 to December 24, at the junction of SW Ankeny and the Naito Parkway located...
, and has been in operation since 1974.
Farmers market
In 1978, a county task force was created to determine if a farmers market could be successful if it were located adjacent to the Eugene Saturday Market. The concept was to offer an open-air venue for local growers to market their produce directly to the public. The Eugene Saturday Market organization would oversee the new farmers market. Based on the task force's recommendation, the county approved the first farmers market in August 1979. It was held on Saturday in a parking lot adjacent to the Saturday Market. The Lane County Farmers MarketLane County Farmers Market
The Lane County Farmers Market is a farmers market in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It provides fresh, locally grown produce, food products, flowers, and plants where shoppers buy directly from the producers.-History:...
became an independent organization in 1989. While it has not been as successful financially as the Saturday Market, the farmers market is still open from April through November ever year.
Marketplace
The Eugene Saturday Market is open every Saturday from early April until mid-November regardless of weather. The market opens at ten o'clock in the morning and closes at five o'clock in the afternoon. On the weekend before ThanksgivingThanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
, the market moves to the Lane County Fair
Lane County Fair
The Lane County Fair is an annual celebration held in Eugene, Oregon every August featuring food, music and other entertainment. It is held at the Lane County Fairgrounds....
grounds where it is held indoors through Christmas Eve.
There is no admission charge and people walk through the market area freely. During a normal Saturday, between 3,000 and 5,000 people visit the market. Every year, shoppers buy approximately $2.5 million worth of handcrafts and food from Saturday Market vendors.
Everything sold at the Saturday Market is handcrafted
Handicraft
Handicraft, more precisely expressed as artisanic handicraft, sometimes also called artisanry, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or by using only simple tools. It is a traditional main sector of craft. Usually the term is applied to traditional means...
. In addition, all of the products for sale at the market must be sold by the person who made them or a member of their immediate family. The market offers a wide variety of handcrafted goods including artwork, jewelry, clothing, and craft furniture. Vendors also sell homemade jams, breads, and honey.
There are about seventeen food booths at the market. The food court features many global food cuisines, including Afghani
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n, Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Thai
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The food booths must meet all state health department
Oregon Department of Human Services
The Oregon Department of Human Services is the primary health and human services agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The ODHS was established in 1971 as the Oregon Department of Human Resources but renamed in 1999...
regulations and licensing requirements. The food service operations are also subject to regular public health inspections.
The Eugene Saturday Market provides a venue for local musicians and other performing artists. There are six stage performances every week. The eleven o'clock performance is always for or by children. There are also strolling performers who play in open areas throughout the Park Blocks. During the course of a year, over one thousand performers appear on the Saturday Market stage.
Currently, there are over 700 members of the Eugene Saturday Market. About 300 of these members are active vendors who regularly sell crafts or food at the market. Members pay an annual $40 fee. On Saturdays, vendors pay $10 to rent an eight-foot by eight-foot booth or $5 for a four-foot by four-foot booth. Vendors must also pay ten percent of their sales revenue to the Saturday Market.
Awards
The market won local recognition as Lane CountyLane County
Lane County is the name of two counties in the United States:* Lane County, Kansas* Lane County, Oregon...
's first-best place for a family outing in The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard is a daily newspaper published in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the Eugene Daily Guard and the Morning Register. The paper serves the Eugene-Springfield area, as well as the Oregon Coast, Umpqua River Valley, and surrounding...
s Readers' Choice awards in 2010.
Governance
The Saturday Market is a non-profit organizationNon-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
. Its board of directors sets policy and oversees market operations. The board has nine members elected by Saturday Market members. Each director serves for 18 months and may be re-elected once. An election is held every three months with three director positions being filled at each election. The members of the board elect a chairperson, who serves for one year. The board also elects a treasurer.
The Saturday Market standards committee was established in 1981. It establishes guidelines for crafts sold at the market and is responsible for setting on-site marketing rules. It also resolves disputes between vendors. In addition, a budget committee works with the board of directors to ensure the organization remain financially healthy. The budget committee prepares an annual budget and a vendor fee schedule for board approval.
The board of directors hires employees and sets their salaries. Currently, there are only three full-time employees; a director, a financial coordinator, and a promotions coordinator. There are also twelve part-time employees who help set up and take down the stage and information booth on Saturdays.