Published: 8/19/2021 4:33:07 PM
While rain from Tropical Storm Fred dampened the first day of Market Days Festival, attendees still trickled into downtown Concord, where the three-day festival returned after last year’s event was altered to reduce crowds that could spread the coronavirus.
Executive Director Jessica Martin said that her organization Intown Concord, which organizes Market Days, made some changes to account for the wet weather on Thursday, including moving the location of some musical performances and canceling the KidZone.
Only about half of the 150 vendors scheduled showed up on Thursday, but Martin expects all of them to be there Friday. About 25 of those vendors are part of the Concord Arts Market.
Stephanie Poltack, owner of Manchester-based Sillie Puffs Cotton Candy, said the rain wasn’t as bad as they had feared. “We’ve only had a couple little bursts of rain,” Poltack said. “It’s not as busy as usual, but not slow as I thought it would be.”
Her favorite among her 58 flavors of cotton candy is pink lemonade, followed by eggnog in the winter. Poltack’s stall, along with her hat and shirt, is rainbow tie-dye.
“We stand out in the crowd. The reason we did this is because after a couple of years, everything gets dirty with cotton candy,” she said. The colors hide any sugary stains.
Sillie Puffs skipped a few years of Market Days because of the way pricing was structured for vendors, but Poltack has returned now that she can reserve a smaller, less expensive space.
“They insisted everybody have 20-feet of space,” she said. “They changed the pricing, so now I have a 10-foot space.” She praised Intown Concord’s new management, including Martin, who became executive director in December.
Concord residents still came out Thursday to enjoy the food, crafts and live music despite the threatening forecast.
“There are still some hardy New Englanders out here,” Martin said. “We’re dancing in the rain.” A few young women did twirl around to music from the main stage beneath the light rain falling at noon on Thursday.
After a wet morning, the showers dispersed in the afternoon, bringing out floating soap bubbles and more attendees.
Main Street from Hills Avenue to Centre Street/Loudon Road will be closed through Saturday night for the event, as well as Depot, Warren, Capitol and Park Streets.
On the State House lawn, there were no dogs cooling off in the Doggy SplashZone kiddie pools with solar-powered fountains, although Concord Police dog Liberty did stop by to pee on the grass, a volunteer said.
Street guitarist Keven Clark said despite the rain, he had made about $50 by 12:30 p.m. Clark is homeless and has lived in the Concord area since 2011. After 10 years of Market Days, he knows the drill. Usually, Friday is his best day for tips from festival-goers; Saturday is the worst.
“I think that they come out Friday and Saturday,” he said. “By Saturday, they got no money left, but they still come out and walk around.”
Last year’s Market Days Festival was spread out over a month to prevent large crowds in Concord during the pandemic. “We’re just excited to welcome people back, even if it is raining,” Martin said.
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