The Greensburg Night Market will begin on Thursday, June 25 from 5:30-9pm on Pennsylvania Avenue behind the Westmoreland County Courthouse instead of it’s original first scheduled date in May.
Markets across the country are making adjustments, changing locations and in some cases just canceling their seasons. The Greensburg Night Market, decided not to cancel the season but to delay its opening and make adjustments to help support their local vendors. There will be regulations put into place due to Covid-19 based on suggestions from the PA Department of Agriculture including but not limited to hand sanitizing stations, no product sampling and social distancing practices. As the opening date gets closer, set guidelines will be posted.
“After looking over what the PA Department of Agriculture was suggesting and other markets were doing, we wanted to make the right decision for our market,” said Jessica Hickey of the Downtown Greensburg Project. “We spoke with the City of Greensburg and made the decision to push back the start of the market 1 month. The street we use is one way and pretty tight, so we wanted some extra time to plan accordingly, make necessary adjustments and still keep our vendors and market visitors safe. We’re hoping that with the extra time we’ll have more options and be able to have the market that everyone loves but safely.”
In its second year, the Greensburg Night Market will have an expanded area and 45 vendors, an increase from 30 vendors last year. The market will host farmers, makers, growers, artisans and local breweries, distilleries and wineries during the 5 dates; June 25, July 30, August 27, October 1 and October 29.
“Since we pushed the market back a month we still wanted to have 5, so we added on the October 29 date,” said Hickey. “It will be interesting to have one so late in the season, but we have some fun ideas planned for that date to make it a little different.”
The Greensburg Night Market was started in 2019 with 3 dates on Pennsylvania Avenue behind the courthouse in conjunction with the Westmoreland Cultural Trust’s TGIS Concert Series and the last 3 at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. For 2020, the market will stay on PA Ave for all of the dates. The Downtown Greensburg Project, who runs the Greensburg Night Market, has other plans for this season to accommodate those who cannot attend the market but would still like to purchase from the vendors.
“We’re working on a few things to still have people who can’t come into the market whether it’s due to Covid-19 or the time of the market doesn’t work for them, to be able to get items from our vendors,” said Hickey. “We’re in the planning stages of that now and will hopefully releasing information within the next couple of weeks.”
The Greensburg Night Market will open on Thursday, June 25 from 5:30-9pm on Pennsylvania Avenue behind the Westmoreland County Courthouse.
