Parsippany Farmers Market opens this weekend, hoping new location and vendors lead revival
As the town slogan says, there is "Pride in Parsippany." Produce is another matter.
Morris County's largest municipality has tried and failed twice in the past dozen years to establish a weekly farmer's market for residents to buy Jersey Fresh fruits and vegetables along with other specialty foods and goods.
But the township is giving it another go starting this weekend.
When is the new Parsippany Farmers Market?
The free market will be held every Friday from today, June 9, through Oct. 27 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Local officials hope the third try will be the charm. Earlier this year, the township council passed a resolution to revive the event at Veteran's Memorial Park on Route 46, with added attractions they hope will help it stick around.
"A few things will be different," said Howard Rosenblatt of Somerset-based Mega Bites Events, which has been tabbed to run the market beginning June 9. "We'll have food trucks every week. We'll have live music at most events. So it will be more than just coming to buy your lettuce."
Vendors
Rosenblatt said the latest version of the market officers a "more diverse" vendor list, including an organic farm and another farm selling Halal-certified meats. "We're still growing," he said. "We hope to have about 20 to 30 vendors each week."
The current vendor list includes two produce farms: Van Wageningen & Daughters out of Kinnelon, and Schieferstein Farmers Market out of Clark. Willets Own Meats, based in Lebanon, will provide a selection of sausages, jerky, cured meat and venison.
Other announced vendors include fresh foods from Jerzey Girl Pickles, Nuts For You and Shalom Catering; baked goods from Joey's Market Breads and Sue's House of Fudge; beverages from Alementary Brewing Co., Luna Brew and Seven Tribesmen Brewery. The lineup also offers food trucks, including three empanada sellers, pet goods and interactive vendors including CannaBus
Why past markets failed
One thing Rosenblatt and Mayor James Barberio are certain about is they have a better location than the previous Parsippany markets. A Friday afternoon farmer's market was launched in 2010 in the town hall parking lot. That was transferred to a municipal parking lot in Lake Hiawatha before it fizzled a few years later.
"At town hall, nobody was coming," Barberio recalled. "It started to work out pretty well in Lake Hiawatha, but then it just died off."
The market was revived in 2017, on Saturdays at Cerbo's Parsippany Greenhouses on Littleton Road. It was an auspicious location: Antonio Cerbo launched Parsippany's first farm stand there in 1913, when the community was still part of Hanover Township. But the 2017 attempt also failed to take root.
Parsippany News: Arts Center revived after three years in the dark due to COVID
Investigations: License plate readers can track car thieves across NJ. Why that worries privacy advocates
A more central location
Veteran's Memorial Park, Rosenblatt said, gives them a more central location in town and more room to work with.
"You know what they say: 'location, location, location,'" Rosenblatt said. "Having done the Food Truck and Music Festival here last year and doing it again this year, I know that Veteran's Memorial Park is the perfect gathering place. There are parking spaces, there are games going on, so you have a built-in crowd. Everyone knows where it is, right off Route 46. There are bathrooms there, garbage cans there, all those little infrastructure needs you have right there."
Final logistical details are still being ironed out with the township's Recreation Department, Department of Public Works, Environmental Commission and the environmentally-minded Green Team.
Who will run the market?
Mega Bites has previously focused on booking food trucks and sponsoring a variety of public events, including pro wrestling and "drive-in" style movie nights. The Parsippany market will be the company's second municipal farmer's market after a successful launch for Paramus last year at the Garden State Plaza.
Barberio praised Mega Bites for producing last year's Food Truck and Music Festival at the park. "It went really well," he said. The event served as a successful audition for the weekly market.
"I think it's the kind of event that brings the community together," Barberio said of the farmer's market, which will run through October 29. "And there's the whole wellness aspect."
For more information ...
Residents can view news and vendor updates about the market on the Mega Bites website, megabiteevents.com.
"I'm excited about it," the mayor said. "We'll see how it goes. If it's successful, we will continue it. But you never know until you try."
William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com
Twitter: @wwesthoven
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Parsippany NJ Farmers Market 2023: New hours, location, vendors
