NFriday wrote:How was the BBQ? Were there lots of people there? How did they do social distancing? How did they pass out the food?
The event was a success on a number of levels. I don't know the final numbers but I think there were about 50% of the attendees as in previous, recent years and about 70% of the number of stalls. Other than the obvious, that it happened in September rather than July might also be partially responsible for the decline. In any case, since this is the GCM's biggest annual fundraiser, it was great to see so many attendees. The revenue generated by this event goes a long way to funding many of the Market's important farm-support programs and initiatives.
As an attendee, I felt quite safe. First of all, it was an outdoor event. This had a huge impact on how safe the event felt. Secondly, attendees had to verify their vaccination status or a provide proof of a negative covid test result in order to enter. This diffused a lot of my potential apprehension.
The stalls themselves were more spread out than in previous years. Just as in previous years, attendees could walk around, grab food/beverage from the stalls of their choice and eat or drink it at their leisure. And as always, there were no shared plates, glasses or tableware -- so, no salient concerns on that front. This is purely anecdotal but I never felt crowded or crammed into any areas where I felt even remotely compromised or nervous. It seemed that people just kind of kept their distance from each other in a courteous, non-alarmed way. The weather -- sunny (until dark), mid 70's and lightly breeze -- was perfect and the vibe was very friendly and mellow.
Personally, I loved the September date and hope it becomes permanent. Not only was the weather great
(yes it can still be hot in September but there are better odds of it not being a scorcher) but I loved that tomatoes were so prominently featured by many of the chefs. You don't get that in July!
=R=
Same planet, different world