Sarasota Farmers Market launches Rosemary District event

The Sarasota Farmers Market is expanding into the Rosemary District with an eight-week run of evening events in the north-of-downtown neighborhood.

The Rosemary Sunset Market at CitySide will begin Thursday, Feb. 22, the farmers market announced today. The market will be held on May Lane between Cocoanut Avenue and Florida Avenue, near the CitySide apartment complex. The event will run on Thursdays from 5-8 p.m.

Phil Pagano, executive director of the Sarasota Farmers Market, said customers have continued to express interest in a mid-week farmers market, similar to the Wednesday farmers market perviously held in Five Points Park.

Pagano said holding the event in the evening could better accommodate people’s work schedules. He thinks moving it to the Rosemary District will help serve the growing residential population in the neighborhood.

“Evening markets are sort of up-and-coming,” Pagano said. “It’s a great location, and we’ve worked out all the logistics.”

Up to 40 vendors will be present at the Rosemary Sunset Market, according to a release. The event will also include live music, food demonstrations and children’s activities. Visitors can park on the CitySide property north of May Lane.

Pagano hopes to include Rosemary District stakeholders as featured attractions at the market. If the event is a success, he said it could become a long-term fixture in the Rosemary District.

“We’re going to do eight weeks and see how it goes,” Pagano said. “Then, what we’d like to do is once a month — the first Thursday of the month.”