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

Arts and crafts

Arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with one's hands and skill. These can be sub-divided into handicrafts or "traditional crafts" and "the rest"...

 and farmers' market

Farmers' market

A farmers' market consists of individual vendors—mostly farmers—who set up booths, tables or stands, outdoors or indoors, to sell produce, meat products, fruits and sometimes prepared foods and beverages...

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

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...

, 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, 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...

. 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

Non-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...

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 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.

External links

• Official website
• Twitter