Carlow farmers’ market celebrates milestone birthday
Some of the crowd pictured during the Carlow Farmers' Market Halloween event
CARLOW farmers’ market marked its 21st anniversary on Saturday 25 October with a Halloween-themed celebration that showcased local farmers, growers, crafters, bakers and makers in ‘spooktacular’ style.
The event drew families from across the Carlow community for a day of festivities, including pumpkin carving, face painting, music and fancy dress. According to James Murphy, the market’s chairperson for the past two-and-a-half years, it was the busiest day of the year so far, with only the Christmas market typically drawing larger crowds.
The pumpkin carving competition was a particular highlight, attracting over a dozen entries of such high quality that organisers decided to award prizes to every participant.
“They were all so good that we actually decided to award prizes to all the entrants,” Mr Murphy said.
A seasonal pumpkin soup, prepared by John from Granny’s Kitchen stall using vegetables sourced from fellow market traders, proved extremely popular and sold out within a few hours. The market also featured a ‘guess the pumpkin weight’ competition, with the large pumpkin supplied by James of The Haggart Farm.
Free face painting was organised by Liam of Moyleabbey Organic Farm, one of the market’s longest-standing traders, and a Halloween music playlist added to the festive atmosphere as costumed children enjoyed the celebrations.
Four local crafters showcased their wares at the anniversary event ‒ Martene of Prism Jewellery, Mal of My Big Fat Hat, Daniela of Daniela’s Happy Flowers and Evelyn of Under The Oak Tree Designs. All took Christmas gift commissions on the day.
Mr Murphy, who runs a small farm growing fruit and vegetables exclusively for the farmers’ market, emphasised that autumn is the ideal time to visit the market.
“People might think that summer is more the season for the fruit and veg, but, I mean, this is the harvest season traditionally and it’s when everything is coming ripe,” he said. “Autumn really is my favourite time of year ‒ just seeing everything growing on the farm and being ready to harvest.”
Carlow farmers market organisers took to social media to thank the community for their support: ‘We are so thankful to be a part of the Carlow community and have the Carlow community as part of the market. Thank you for all your support over the last 21 years. We look forward to trading for the next 21 years and beyond.’
Plans are already underway for a Christmas event at the market, with the hope of featuring local choirs.
