Summer is the time to get silly with Park City’s weekly eco-friendly, open-air market.

The Park Silly Sunday Market is set to open its 12th season at 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 3. The street festival, which is free and open to all ages, will run weekly through Sept. 23, except Aug. 5, 12 and 19.

Executive Director Kate McChesney and her staff have upgraded the market to include 40 new, local vendors in the 200-plus artists, businesses and nonprofits that will participate in the market over the course of the summer.

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“We have cut back on the importers,” she said. “There will be a few, but that’s not our target market anymore. We want to focus more on artists, farmers and youth vendors.”

We want to focus more on artists, farmers and youth vendors…”Kate McChesney,Park Silly Sunday Marketexecutive director

Speaking of youth, the Park Silly Sunday Market’s children’s area will feature a new mechanical bull, along with the returning bounce houses.

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“The bounce houses have always been for little kids, so this year we wanted to have something (the mechanical bull) for the ‘tweeners’ and young adults,” she said.

Also returning to Park Silly is the Park Silly Farmer’s Market, located near the Post Office on upper Main Street.

The farmer’s market also features one of three stages that will showcase live music. The other two stages include Miners Park and the Park Silly Main Stage at lower Main Street.

All music at Park Silly is programmed by Mountain Town Music, McChesney said.

“Utah Symphony musicians will do a few dates with us, and we’ll have bucket drummers and violin and viola students who have been scheduled to play,” she said.

This Sunday’s Main Stage performances are scheduled to feature Cory Mon at 11 a.m. and Silly Gringos at 2 p.m. The Farmer’s Market Stage schedule includes Brother Run at 10 a.m. and Teresa Eggertsen Cooke at 2:30 p.m.

A variety of dancers will also take the stages throughout the market’s run.

“There will be belly dancers and dancers from the Peggy Bergmann Ballet West Academy,” McChesney said. “And we’ll also have Salt Lake Cheer and Tumbling do some routines.”

In addition, there will also be impromptu performances by buskers, stilt walkers, face painters, clowns and magicians up and down Main Street on any given Sunday.

A new attraction for adults this year will be frozen cocktails, McChesney said.

“We will have everything from frozen strawberry margaritas to daiquiris and ‘Coronaritas,’ along with our regular make-your-own Bloody Mary bar,” she said.

The drinks will be served by Top Shelf Utah, a mobile bartending service. In keeping with Park Silly’s green campaign, the drinks will not include plastic straws.

There will be paper straws, but also pasta straws, according to McChesney.

“We will also use red liquorice as straws for our frozen cocktails,” she said.

Park Silly will also showcase different food vendors this year.

“Our Jamaican vendor 11 Hauz, who has been with us for a while, has gone off and will open a brick and mortar restaurant at Kimball Junction, so we picked up a few more appetizing businesses this year,” McChesney said.

Those vendors include Unscene Poutine from Heber, PC Pita and Praise Cheezus, the grilled -cheese catering company.

“They were only able to set up a few Sundays last year, so this year they’ll be with us for 14 Sundays,” McChesney said. “We also picked up Park City Gyro, who will make some Greek foods.”

Those vendors will join longtime Park Silly Sunday Market food kiosk Spencer’s Smoking Barbecue, owned by Mark and Susan Spencer.

“They have never missed a Park Silly Sunday Market,” McChesney said. “They have been with us for 12 seasons.”

By McChesney’s calculations, Spencer’s has offered its barbecue dishes with the market for 160 weeks since 2006.

“They started opening day with us, and literally raised their kids with us,” she said.

Park Silly always highlights local nonprofits as well. One will be Nuzzles & Co., a no-kill animal rescue organization, which will host two adoption events on June 10 and Sept. 23.

“They did these last year and had 17 adoptions in one day,” McChesney said. “It was a huge success.”

Nuzzles will also attend the market a few more times for Silly Snuggle Hours, hour-long sessions where people can interact with puppies. Dates for the Silly Snuggle Hours dates are not yet in place.

“They will bring some of their rescue pups from 10-11 a.m. so people can snuggle with them,” said McChesney.

Speaking of pets, dogs are welcome at Park Silly, but McChesney urged owners to use caution as Main Street’s asphalt can reach high temperatures dangerous to dogs’ paws in the summer.

McChesney urges market attendees not to drive to Main Street.

Park Silly attracts between about 14,000 people each Sunday and parking is an issue, she said. The market will provide free parking at Park City High School so attendees can ride in on a city bus. McChesney also recommends walking or riding bikes to the market. A free bike valet will be located at the bottom of Main Street.

“It gets crowded up there and we really want everyone to have a great time,” she said.