For more than a year, the gears have been turning to create a permanent farmers’ market in Niverville. If all goes as planned, the market will be an annual summer event beginning in 2026.

Sandra Ingenmey is one of the dreamers behind the idea of an annual market. She’s since collaborated with Bre-Ann Boulet, executive director of the Niverville Chamber of Commerce (NCOC).

With the support of the NCOC, the duo has also sold the idea to town council, who have agreed to partner with them to help ensure the success of the initiative.

“We are looking at bringing home-based businesses to the forefront,” Ingenmey says. “Growers, bakers and makers. We don’t know what it’s going to look like yet and that’s part of the charm. We want it to be whatever the community wants it to be.”

At this stage, a tentative budget and business plan have been created. The key now is to get the vendors interested.

“In our business plan, we’ve kind of identified Friday [as the market day] because people are going to the lake and they might want to stop at the market before they go,” Ingenmey says. “Still, it’s the people who participate who are going to dictate, so we may negotiate that.”

Ingenmey envisions running it every second week from May to September. 

The immediate next step is to hold a public meeting, inviting makers and interested locals to help inform the market’s direction. Ingenmey hopes, too, that the meeting will be the springboard from which a board of directors will be created.

The meeting has been set for February 12 at 7:00 p.m. in the CRRC’s kitchen facility.

The Niverville Farmers’ Market board will ideally be comprised of people with a variety of skillsets including organizing, vendor outreach, and social media promotion.

“[Part of the board’s job will be] vendor selection,” Ingenmey adds. “We don’t want to have ten vendors that are selling sour dough. We want to just try and make sure we’ve got diversity, but we’re not attracting vendors that are reselling pre-made products.”

Ingenmey envisions a market that’s far more than just a way to bridge the gap between shoppers and local makers. It should be an event that makes a name for itself across the region, where locals and out-of-towners come to spend time and build connection with one another.

This could include food trucks and local buskers. It could be an avenue for not-for-profit groups to do self-promotion and fundraising. The possibilities are limitless, she says, and dependent on feedback and support.

Before revealing the plan to the public, Ingenmey and Boulet have already been working through some of the logistical details.

The Town has offered, free of charge, a large parking lot near the Centennial Arena for the market’s location. The spot is ideal in its proximity to Highway 311 as well as traffic headed to McDonald’s or the CRRC.

As well, the town will ensure access to washrooms in the nearby arena and availability of water and electricity. They will provide garbage collection after the market closes.

The market financials will be managed by Boulet and the NCOC.

Vendor space won’t be limited to those who have experience. It will be open to makers of all ages and backgrounds. It includes those with a registered business name, but it could as easily be comprised of grandmothers who simply love to bake or crafters who have, so far, identified as hobbyists.

“We have all these talents in our community and we think, ‘Aww, I don’t do anything special,’” she says. “But there is something very precious about meeting somebody who made something that we want to buy.”

In some cases, provincial licenses are required, such as for food handling or cosmetic preparation. The board will ensure those licenses are current.

Since the farmers’ market ideal is to support local makers and growers, Ingenmey says efforts will be made to ensure that participation is affordable to all.

“The idea has to be to bring that home-based business to market and not let the financial piece be a [drawback] for anyone. We want to support them.”