There might still be some warm days ahead, but the Chattanooga Market is ready to celebrate the arrival of autumn with a lineup of popular annual events and more of the locally produced goods that have made the market a Sunday ritual for area residents and a must-see attraction for visitors.
The Chattanooga Market is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, which means it’s been around long enough to make it hard for local residents to imagine life in the Scenic City without it. During that time, the Market has amassed a pool of more than 500 vendors and held firmly to its hand-made, locally produced ethic. The formula has been a success, as vendor sales in 2011 alone have topped one million dollars. As hundreds of visitors fill the First Tennessee Pavilion, vendors collectively sell a variety of food products ranging from recently picked vegetables and fruits, to organically grown beef cut to order, to fresh bread, to made-on-the-spot kettle corn, to award-winning goat cheese.
Non-edible goods run the gamut from soaps and lotions, to a plethora of jewelry, to professional photography, to paintings, to children’s apparel. Everything must be produced by the people selling it or their immediate relatives. In other words, no pre-fab wood toys, processed foods, or silver platters from China. Melissa Siragusa, spokesperson for the Market, says this gives people a connection with the location from which their food and other goods are coming.
“We’re an authentic producer market. The idea is that you can talk with the farmer who picked the strawberries, and he can tell you what variety of strawberry he’s selling, that he doesn’t use pesticides, and that he picked them that morning.” Massage therapists, caricature artists, and more fill the in-between spaces at the Market, giving the space what one patron calls “unpredictability and a sense of wonder about what’s around the corner.”
While visitors are browsing every nook and cranny of the marketplace, they can hear live music coming from the EPB stage at the far end of the Tennessee Pavilion. To connect the public with local performers, the Market publishes a brief bio of each musician or band on their Web site at www.chattanoogamarket.com. For example, Dave Dykes & The Grateful Hearts will be performing September 18. Born to “hard-working, hard loving Tennesseans, Dykes cut his teeth on folk and mountain music. His blood run thick with memories of North East Tennessee, and his songs speak of its heartache and simplicity,” his Market bio reveals. Patrons who don’t care for the style of music being performed only need to wait it out, as the Market features two performers representing different genres each Sunday.
Once people make their way to the area near the stage, they can purchase lunch from vendors serving everything from barbecue, to Mexican, to deli, to several kinds of dessert, including Italian ice, crepes, and homemade cakes. Tables are provided to give weary legs and feet a rest. To stir things up and attract even more visitors, the Market hosts several special events each year. The fall is an especially busy time, particularly as the holidays approach in November and December.
On September 18, the Market will bring its annual Kickin’ Chikin’ event to the Pavilion. For the price of a single ticket, patrons will be able to sample chicken wings from several participating restaurants. The occasion benefits Chattanooga Endeavors, a charity with a mission to improve public safety by restoring former offenders to productive roles in society. Siragusa says many of the special events the Market hosts double as fundraisers.
The following Sunday, the Market will host its annual Cast Iron Cook-off, in which local chefs are given a protein and a specific amount of time to prepare their entry. The catch: they must acquire all of the ingredients they use at the Market. This year’s cook-off is part of the launch of the Tennessee Aquarium’s Serve & Protect program, a seafood sustainability endeavor the Aquarium is doing in partnership with Food Network celebrity chef Alton Brown.
In keeping with the theme of Serve & Protect, the chefs will be preparing a unique seafood item to be revealed at the event. Siragusa says Brown will be on hand to watch the chefs work and promote the sustainable seafood effort. The Chattanooga Market will go global on October 2 with its annual CultureFest, a family oriented festival that will celebrate the cultural diversity of the Chattanooga region through music and dance performances, educational displays, interactive booths, activities for kids, art and food. The 2010 CultureFest featured a Chinese tai ji presentation, Greek dance, and Latin music, among other activities.
Taking place October 16, Cut Up for Life will be a collaborative effort by local beauty salons and spas, and their hair stylists, nail technicians and massage therapists, to raise money for people affected by HIV. Chattanooga CARES, which provides free HIV and Rapid Hepatitis C testing, will facilitate the event and receive the proceeds. The 10th annual Oktoberfest will take place the following weekend. Siragusa says the two-day festival is the largest Oktoberfest in the region, with up to 30,000 visitors enjoying German food, beer from local breweries, a live oompah band, and more. (For more information, visit www.chattanoogaoktoberfest.com.)
Following Oktoberfest, the Market will host a series of special weekends, including its yearly Haunted Market on October 30, Coca-Cola Day on November 6, Big Band Day on November 13, Chattanooga Chili on November 20, and Antiques and Collectibles on November 27. To wrap up its tenth season, the Market will host three Holiday Markets in December. The first will take place December 3 and 4, a Saturday and Sunday. The second and third markets will take place the next two Fridays and Saturdays at the Chattanooga Convention Center, which will allow for even more vendors to offer their wares. Siragusa says the event will be festive and focused on gift items.
The Chattanooga Market is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Most vendors accept cash, check, and credit. An ATM is available for visitors that did not bring cash, but want to purchase goods from a vendor that doesn’t accept checks or credit cards. Parking is free.
For people who can’t make it into the city on Sunday, the Market hosts a Saturday River Market at the Tennessee Aquarium Plaza from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pets are not permitted at the Market due to health codes.