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The Park Silly Sunday Market is accepting applications for its 2021 season after last year’s cancellation

Weekly open-air street fair schedule to open June 6

Vendors can apply for the 2021 Park Silly Sunday Market, which is scheduled to open on June 6. The open-air street fair will return with pandemic protocols in place after taking last summer off.
Park Record file photo

Park Silly Sunday Market looks to open June 6 after taking last summer off due to coronavirus concerns.

The open-air fair held each week on Main Street during summer is currently accepting vendor applications, said Executive Director Kate McChesney.

Vendors can apply by visiting parksillysundaymarket.com.



“We are accepting artists, designers and farmers,” she said. “Applications are open and we don’t really close them, because we change vendors each week.”

The one big hurdle left to opening Park Silly this year is getting the green light from Summit County and Park City, according to McChesney.



“Once we hear a definitive answer from the county and city, we will start approving the applications,” she said. “In the meanwhile we want people to apply so their names are on the list. And once approved, we will do everything in our power that we will get everyone we can on the street.”

Pending approval, McChesney and her staff have various Park Silly layouts that will adhere to different COVID-19 guidelines.

“We are still in talks with Park City, but the two words that are being bounced around are ‘scale’ and ‘back,'” McChesney said. “We don’t know what that will look like, because we don’t have definitive answers. I do know if things progress positively, the market will most likely not look the same when it opens June 6 as it will when it closes Sept. 26.”

Artists, designers and farmers can apply for the 2021 Park Silly Sunday Market. Applications can be accessed by visiting parksillysundaymarket.com.
Park Record file photo

As of now, McChesney is certain the market will include mask mandates, and require six feet between vendors and patrons.

“Our footprint will still stay at Heber Avenue and lower Main, so we can accommodate more spacing between vendor booths,” she said. “And since we keep track of the number of people who are coming in, we are figuring out how to spread them to other areas of the market to ensure spacing.”

In addition, signs will be set up on chairs and tables in the dining and drinking areas that will ensure people will only be allowed to remove their masks if they are actively eating or drinking, McChesney said.

“We’re open to all of what the county and city want to direct,” she said. “We just want to open safely, because our main priority is having a safe community event.”

Still, McChesney is grateful for the prospect of opening Park Silly Sunday Market this year.

“The first thing I want to do is start crying,” she said. “We shut down early to protect the community, and many people were affected right out of the gate last year. It wasn’t just us. It was all of our vendors.”

Bucket drummer Phineas Hailey captivates attendees of a 2017 Park Silly Sunday Market event. A scaled-back version of the open-air festival will return June 6 to Main Street.
Park Record file photo

To try and help its vendors during the pandemic, Park Silly kicked off an online vendor directory on its website with the help of a $12,500 grant from Salt Lake City-based marketing agency ThoughtLab.

The free directory, located at directory.parksillysundaymarket.com, is a live document that is divided into 11 categories, including arts, nonprofits, clothing and farmers, and it features vendors’ contact and product information.

“It has been a very big success, and we will continue to offer that director because it’s on its own platform,” McChesney said. “We will also include a directory of applications we get in this summer.”

In the meanwhile, McChesney and her crew are ready to return to Main Street.

“We would like to show that these types of events can happen in a safe way,” she said. “We would like to be another organization that leads the way in how we will navigate the new COVID guidelines, what, if, or any, of those will be.”

For information, visit parksillysundaymarket.com.


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