What spring things will you find when Chattanooga Market opens this weekend? Early blooming flowers are a good bet.If you go
› What: Chattanooga Market’s opening weekend.› When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, April 23; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, April 24.› Where: First Tennessee Pavilion, 1829 Reggie White Blvd.› Admission: Free.› Website: chattanoogamarket.com.
On the EPB stage
Saturday› 12:30-3 p.m. Sweet Georgia SoundSunday, April 24› 12:30-1:30 p.m. Ryan Oyer› 2-3 p.m. The Von Wamps
Play Along With the CSO
The chance to sit in with Chattanooga Symphony & Opera musicians when they visit Chattanooga Market comes Sunday, May 1. The program will feature Sousa’s “The Washington Post,” Williams’ “Raiders March” from “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Alford’s “Colonel Bogey March” and Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance No. 1. Community musicians may choose to play along at 1 or 2 p.m., provided their section hasn’t already sold out. The $31 cost includes a T-shirt. Sign up at chattanoogasymphony.org/play-along-with-the-cso-music.
To get Chattanooga Market off to a successful start in its two-day 16th season debut this weekend, on-site manager Steve Brehm has issued the 250 vendors a couple of reminders. Turns out, it’s good advice for visitors, too.
* Have plenty of change. You should find plenty to tempt you at the market – seasonal produce, prepared foods, top-quality arts and crafts. Come with cash, or be prepared to use the ATMs. Some vendors may be able to make electronic transactions, but not all are equipped with card readers.
* Keep a good attitude. As Brehm notes, the two-day opener is hectic for all involved, “but when everyone is in a good mood, it makes things go much smoother.”
In an online post, Brehm says this will be his sixth season working with Chattanooga Market and his third as “market master.”
“Opening weekend is my favorite event of the whole season – and last year about 20,000 or so visitors agreed with me,” he wrote.
The two-day opening will help to regulate the crowds who swarm First Tennessee Pavilion in a ritual that will play out 30 more Sundays (and the occasional Saturday) as the season progresses through November.
Regular visitors can even count off the calendar seasons by taking note of the changing variety of fruits and vegetables available from regional growers. Asparagus and strawberries will make earliest appearances, then give way to a bounty of tomatoes, watermelons, peaches and squash in summer and eventually cabbage and pumpkins in fall.
Arts and crafts vendors will offer an assortment of handmade products as well, from candles to clothing to jewelry. Various food trucks will serve up a variety of concessions. Local and touring musicians will add a soundtrack each weekend.
Chris Thomas, executive director of Public Markets Inc., the nonprofit that operates the flagship Chattanooga Market and its spin-offs, reports that total vendor sales at all locations topped $3.7 million in 2015, up 5.6 percent from 2014.
The spin-offs include two “expansion markets” in Collegedale and Ooltewah, opening in May as part of a strategic mission to make room for new farms, artisans and food trucks in East Hamilton County. Their growth, he says in an online post, “will allow for us to return to a more relaxed, less chaotic and mission-serving atmosphere while hopefully taking some pressure off of our Sunday flagship.”
Collegedale Market will be open 4-7 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays on Swinyar Drive. Cambridge Square Market, named for a new development in Ooltewah, will be open 5-8 p.m. Fridays.
Public Markets Inc. also operates Chattanooga River Market, open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays in the Tennessee Aquarium plaza, and Holiday Market, which is open for three weekends in December inside the Chattanooga Convention Center.