Calgary Farmers’ Market officials were “overwhelmed” after opening the doors of their new southeast location to over 35000 visitors.
Market general manager Ken Aylesworth says the opening weekend April 21 to 24 was a success despite visitors experiencing long waits and lines in the parking lot.
“We were prepared for a flood of travellers but I don’t think we ever expected that amount” he says. “There were some tie-ups but we think things went pretty well and we’re going to keep working on smoothing things out.”
There are 644 parking spots in the parking lot and 200 in the surrounding areas but Aylesworth says they share those parking spaces with nearby businesses.
The market brought in 10 parking attendants and worked with Calgary police to try to keep issues to a minimum but some visitors still experienced delays.
The market is also asking Calgary Transit for shuttles to and from the market but transit officials note that the new market is not in a suitable location — an industrial area that doesn’t typically see many buses on weekends.
