The anniversary festivities started off with an official ribbon-cutting 

ATASCADERO — Atascadero celebrated five years of holding its Farmers Market in the Sunken Gardens on Wednesday, April 6, from 3 to 6 p.m. 

“It’s lovely to be together with the city in this big endeavor to grow this wonderful Farmers’ Market here in Atascadero,” said North County Farmers Markets Manager Robyn Gable.

The anniversary festivities started off with an official ribbon-cutting by a mixture of Atascadero City Council members and leaders in the community.

“It is so fun to see that it’s grown so much and how many people are out here. I mean, just look at today; there’s probably a lot of people that haven’t been here before,” said Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno. “I’ve been coming regularly, I’d say, two to three times a month, and I love it. I’ve met people I didn’t know before the Farmers Market. And then you run into them regularly, and it just feels like a real community market.” 

Though the Farmers Market previously took place in Sunken Gardens, for a 14-year period it was located away from the downtown area.  

“Back in 2003, when we had the San Simeon earthquake and City Hall was no longer inhabitable, and downtown was really dead for the most part, the Farmer Market moved over to what is now the Smart & Final parking lot,” Moreno said. “And in 2015, City Hall was back and going again, and we were really trying to revitalize downtown. So we reached out to the organizers of the market in late 2015 and started conversations with them about coming back, and in April of 2017, they did. And it’s been fabulous to have them back downtown.” 

Gable has welcomed the return to the Sunken Gardens.

“It’s been a really good move for us,” she said. “Every year they [The city] do a Summer Sizzle, which is an event, kind of like this, three times during the summer, and they’ve been doing that for five years to help support us and bring more awareness to the market. And then this year, we’re celebrating the five years since we moved here.”

The five-year anniversary celebration also included a live music set by Central Coast favorites the Jump Jax, delicious food samples from Colony Market & Deli, cider tasting from Bristol’s Cider House, and wine tasting from Lone Madrone Winery. The celebration continued with giveaways and games for all.

Every Wednesday, you can find 20 to 30 vendors at the Sunken Gardens Farmers Market, where you can shop for fresh produce, breads, salsas, honey, soup, pies, and more. 

“It’s the freshest of the fresh food you can buy right now,” added Gable.

You can find the Atascadero Farmers Market every week on Wednesdays from 3 to 6 p.m. During daylight savings, the market runs from 3 to 5 p.m. For more information, head to VisitAtascadero.com/events.