In years past, the Sparks Farmers' Market filled Victorian Square.
To make the event more family-friendly this year, organizers limited the market to one area away from businesses.
Johnny Eastwick says four years ago, close to 20,000 people filled Victorian Avenue on Thursday nights for the market.
"Now, it's 2,000 people in a hot parking lot, buying vegetables," he says. "It's affecting us greatly."
Eastwick owns the Victorian Saloon right in the heart of Victorian Square. The farmers' market is now in a limited area. which he says is taking business away from his bar.
"Farmers' market was about 15 percent of our yearly sales. So, 15 percent is gone like that," he says. "It takes a huge toll."
Great Basin Brewing Company is just a few doors down from Victorian Saloon. The manager there says they miss the extra customers the farmers' market supplied.
"Yeah, we miss it," says Paul Ganzer. "We'd love to have it back on the street. I think our customers would, and I think most the public would."
Market vendors on the other hand, tell us that in years past, this event looked like a pub crawl. They say this year, it's become more family-oriented.
"A lot more families coming out, a lot more smaller children coming out," says Caree Walker with Matthew Family Farms.
We find families who say this is the first year they've felt comfortable enough to bring their children and grandchildren.
"It was too wild before," says Leticia Ortiz. "Too much alcohol, too many kids that are not even 21, or they're turning 21."
Ortiz hopes these changes are here to stay.
"Much better, because this is more relaxing, you can really get what the farmers' market is, fresh vegetables, family atmosphere," she says.
To bring more families to the farmers' market, organizers also changed the events hours. The market now runs from 3 to 8 p.m. instead of 4 to 9.
Written by Adam Rasmussen
