The twice-a-week West Tisbury Farmers’ Market opens Saturday, relocated this year to the Agricultural Society fairgrounds on Panhandle Road.
As in past seasons, the market takes place from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturdays through Oct. 10 and Wednesdays through Sept. 3. But it will be a different event this year, with mandatory face masks, no eating and a hands-off policy for customers.
A new website has gone up that explains the details.
The new location affords more room for social distancing and parking than the market’s traditional home at the Grange, and the additional rules are intended to protect farmers, staff and the public from coronavirus infection, according to a list of frequently asked questions on the farmers market website.
Face masks are required for anyone entering the market.
Reusable bags are permitted to carry bagged goods from market stalls, but vendors are not permitted to touch them. Customers are asked not to place their reusable bags on vendor tables, because doing so will force the vendor to stop selling and sanitize the area.
Eating at the market is not allowed and an order from the state prohibits customers from touching produce before they buy. “We don’t like it any more than you do and neither do the farmers,” the website notes.
A map posted on the website indicates a single entrance and a single exit for the market, and customers will not be permitted to enter through the exit or exit through the entrance. “This way, you’re not breathing in what a person walking towards you just breathed out,” according to the FAQ.
Credit cards or other contactless payments are preferred to cash and customers are asked not to shop in groups, to aid in social distancing and reduce the time shoppers spend in proximity with others.
To further streamline the shopping experience, vendors increasingly are offering advance online purchasing through their individual websites with pickups at the farmers’ market. The website lists all its vendors for the Saturday and Wednesday markets with links to their websites.
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