CONCOURSE — The South Bronx Farmers Market, which just launched this summer in Mott Haven, will hold its first Holiday Market on Dec. 13 from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., where attendees can purchase items ranging from jewelry to chutney.
Located at the Bronx Museum of the Arts at 1040 Grand Concourse, the market emphasizes supporting local artists and businesses, said Rose Placencia-Knepper, one of the founders, directors and board members of the market.
"The farmers holiday market is going to have vendors that are from The Bronx, doing stuff in The Bronx and for The Bronx," she said.
Vendors will include The Bronx Beer Hall, which will offer shoppers a taste of their neighborhood brews, and Sweet Water Dance and Yoga, a new studio near Yankee Stadium offering holiday specials for their classes.
Bronx Beer Hall co-owner Anthony Ramirez said he decided to take part in the market because it meshed well with his company's goals of improving the borough and promoting local businesses.
"I think the South Bronx Farmer's Market and Holiday Market really is in line with our mission, really in line with the work that we’re already doing," he said. "It just kind of makes sense for us."
The market is also meant to give Bronxites a better opportunity to buy and sell unique items for the holidays.
"I feel like there aren’t a lot of places in the South Bronx to buy gifts that are kind of cool and handmade," said Lily Kesselman, a director of the market. "Around here, it’s either 99 cents or Target. Those are the shops to pick from."
SNAP/EBT cards will be accepted at the event, and each attendee will get one ticket entering them into a raffle to win a Holiday Gift Basket worth more than $150.
The farmers market first launched in June at 138th Street between Willis and Alexander Avenues and ran every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until November.
Executive Chef at Charlie's Bar and Kitchen Joshua Bedford, who lives in Mott Haven, was thrilled with the market's selection of food and said he would use items purchased there in recipes at the nearby restaurant, such as snap peas, tomatillos and baby lemon grass.
"We all are very, very happy to see it," he said. "Now we don’t have to go to Manhattan or all the way down by Hunts Point to get that kind of stuff."
The market has mostly sold fruits and vegetables so far, but when it returns in mid-June, Kesselman would like to expand its offerings and have it take up more of the block between Alexander and Willis Avenues.
"We want to add proteins like dairy, meat and fish," she said, "and we’d love people who do canned products like pickles and salts and salsas."
Angela Dawn, a board member and volunteer at the market, hoped it would be around far beyond next summer.
"We want to be a South Bronx institution," she said. "We’re here to stay."
