Having been forced to close during the coronavirus lockdown, the vibrant market weekends at Bowhouse in St Monans, Fife, begin again this Saturday.
The ‘makers hub’ at Bowhouse in Fife will resume its popular market weekends this autumn and winter.
The monthly events at Bowhouse on Balcaskie Estate in St Monans provide an opportunity for visitors to shop from a carefully curated range of small food and drink producers, and to enjoy street food and live music.
Taking place on the second weekend in September, October, November and December the market weekends, which are free to attend, now include the opportunity to pre-order food and drink online at Bowhouse Link to get exclusive access from 9–11am on the Saturday.
Online market
Bowhouse Link was launched during lockdown as a weekly online market on the Open Food Network to enable customers to continue shopping from Bowhouse and local artisan makers.
Customers can shop Monday to Wednesday the week before the market weekend from a range of selected producers before picking their order up.
Rosie Jack, market manager, said: “We have been delighted to announce the return of our market weekends, we are looking forward to the September market weekend this Saturday and Sunday.
“There are a number of added safety measures in place to ensure visitors and traders can enjoy the weekend safely.
“Customers can pre-order on Bowhouse Link for collection, multiple hand sanitation stations, a one-way system throughout the market hall and we encourage card payments.
“Our Bowhouse Link open collection day had excellent feedback from traders and visitors. We would like to thank Bowhouse customers for their continued support of local food and drink producers in our community.”
Weekend dates
The autumn/winter Bowhouse market weekend dates are: Saturdays and Sundays – September 12 and 13, October 10 and 11, November 14 and 15, and December 12 and 13.
Priority access for Bowhouse Link customers is from 9-11am on Saturdays; open access from 11am-4pm on Saturdays and 10am-4pm on Sundays.
The range of products will include wholemeal organic flours from Scotland the Bread, organic vegetables and salads from East Neuk Market Garden, organic beef, lamb, venison and pork from Butchery at Bowhouse and further traders to be announced.
Summer crops
Tom Booth of East Neuk Market Garden added: “September is an exciting month for growers with the harvest of summer crops and a bounty of root vegetables such as parsnips, carrots and potatoes.
“The Bowhouse Link open collection day last month felt safe and had lots of visitors seeking recommendations for buying produce.
“We can’t wait for the September Market Weekend as the Bowhouse Link has helped to supplement our weekly vegetable box orders and offered a chance to chat to customers. Having just finished building our new polytunnel, we’re hoping to grow our offering in the next year.”
Those who enjoy their street food will be able to enjoy a range of offerings with September’s event including James Ferguson from the acclaimed Kinneuchar Inn cooking on the wood-fired oven in the café, plant-based Faceplant food and Ròst serving up local fare.
Coffees will be available from MacLaurin’s and Flahute. Bowhouse’s resident brewery and tap room, Futtle, will be opening their bottle shop with a range of rums, ciders, beers and natural wines.
For added precautions and ease of use, organisers say parking will be well spaced and there will be plenty of outdoor seating.
The winter market weekends in November and December will also see the return of the popular craft area, with stalls carefully curated by TeaGreen Events, ideal for Christmas shoppers.
