There was a long line on Saturday to the kickoff of the farmer’s market season in Mount Vernon Triangle. But shoppers can expect some changes this year.
“Folks lined up all the way down through the park and kind of back onto Massachusetts Avenue so maybe like half a block at the beginning of the market,” said Nony Dutton, deputy director of FRESHFARM Markets.
Face masks were required at The Mount Vernon Triangle Market as it opened for the season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
And if you didn’t have one, you got one for free.
There were long lines and more than 200 customers in total.
Dutton said that they’ve lowered the number of vendors from about a dozen to half a dozen and have partnered with OpenTable to help control how many customers show up at a time.
Customers sign up for a designated time slot and get right in.
The new OpenTable reservation program is just at the Dupont Circle and Mount Vernon Triangle locations.
Dutton said that they had 100 people between those two markets sign up for a designated time this week.
“We don’t want folks waiting in line for 45 minutes around each other,” Dutton said.
“We want to just cut down on the amount of time that people have to be outdoors, be near people, etc. Hopefully just get people in and out and getting their food and getting back home.”
The market will be open every Saturday until at least November.
Dutton said they might extend it because they got a late start.
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