Riverside Arts Market.

RiversideLoki · April 11, 2009, 02:49:52 PM

When I rode through this morning it was nice and steady. I think I got there a bit early. I was numbah 2 on the bike valet. They did seem to get a little more space, and I'm glad they did. After I had left to ride to the landing and back they were mostly full. It's nice to see the bike community out in force and as a bike rider I appreciate what Bikejax has done with that.

Selection was good, they did mix up the produce a bit. I'm kinda po' this weekend so I didn't buy anything, but man those british pies everyone talked about looked tasty. There were some really nice looking greens and the Bacon farms people brought a ton of fresh looking stuff. L

Still lots of crafty stuff, but I did see a lot of nice art represented.

It was a step up from last time!

tpot · April 11, 2009, 05:11:14 PM

I liked my visit today over last weekend. Last weekend it was hard to even move around the market or look at things.......Today when I was there, the crowd was much lighter. Looked like most of the same stuff as last week. I believe it looked like more produce and plants than last week. I didn't buy anything.........I rode down after my workout at Golds and forgot to bring any money. I had some friends down there with a jewelry booth and they did very well.......

Bativac · April 11, 2009, 05:58:11 PM

I went today right after the Beaver Street Farmer's Market. My fiancee and I weren't real impressed with the produce, and most of the booths look like the stuff from the San Marco Art Festival. All we ended up buying was a meat pie from the British folks.

We watched the escape artist for a couple minutes (my sister said he was at a Scottish festival recently doing the same schtick) and listened to a little of the music. It wasn't too crowded and we had no trouble parking (in the Blue Cross parking area).

We killed about 45 minutes wandering around. There were quite a few people, but the crowd wasn't too intense. I can't imagine it being crowded every weekend, though, unless they plan to change up the booths a little and maybe get more entertainment out there. Once it gets hot out, though, it seems like the crowds would really thin out...

We'll probably check it out again in a couple weeks.

thelakelander · April 11, 2009, 06:56:49 PM

How was the crowd at the Beaver Street Farmer's Market? Was it the same as usual?

grimss · April 11, 2009, 08:49:57 PM

I was at the market from 1 to about 4:30 (at the RAP booth), and the crowd was still surprisingly good. Not 40K, but over the entire day, maybe 20K? (I'm no crowd estimator.) I certainly saw endless streams of folks going past the RAP booth, which is close to the heart of the market, near the stage.

The food vendors still had very brisk business, as did the produce folks. Some vendors were still thrilled (damn, how early do I have to get there to get some of the brittle??), others had made a lot of connections but fewer sales. There was still a lot of excitement about the event. Music was good, although a little mellower. Escape Man was still there, but lots of new street entertainers, too. Lots more police directing traffic.

I do worry about the fact that feeding the RAM beast may end of subsuming a lot of the other stuff RAP wants to do--such a huge and consistent volunteer effort is required to make it work each week. And I want the market mix to be the kind that actually makes people part with their $$; there's a lot of great entertainment and people watching, but that won't keep the market self-sustaining. Ideally, every one of us finds something to spend our $ on whenever we go . . .

thekillingwax · April 11, 2009, 10:17:48 PM

Quote from: thelakelander on April 11, 2009, 06:56:49 PM
How was the crowd at the Beaver Street Farmer's Market? Was it the same as usual?

Stopped by there today to pick up some stuff for a cookout and it was insane as usual. I normally avoid it on saturdays because of the crowds. I'm sure RAM has some neat stuff but pretty much nothing will convince me to stop using the farmers' market for all my produce needs.

fsujax · April 13, 2009, 09:03:26 AM

What do people think about JTA extending the Riverside Trolley to run on Saturday to serve this market? Thoughts? Hours of operation, etc.? I know JTA people read this site, so they might like to get our thoughts.

thelakelander · April 13, 2009, 09:19:29 AM

I can't see how it would be a negative. It will help tie in DT and Five Points with the market, while adding a few more riders for JTA's stats.

RiversideLoki · April 13, 2009, 09:29:22 AM

Yeah, that seems like a no-brainer. I can't see a single negative to doing so. It would help bring in people that may not want to try and park in the immediate area.

Shwaz · April 13, 2009, 09:46:13 AM

The trolley would be a nice addition to the RAM. I've never taken a ride on it during the week and would be more inclined to ride on the weekend when I'm not confined to my "lunch" hour.

The Police directing traffic and helping pedestrians cross the street was also a nice new addition.

I enjoyed my second visit more than the first week too. I picked up a nice necklace and earrings for my girlfriend that I thought were very reasonably priced.

RAM is great place for children's gift's... we picked up a little dress that was reversible and stain / liquid resistant - cute and very functional. There was other nice kids clothes, quilts and blankets.

The performer's were ok... I saw the escape artist last week and at the Irish Festival a few weeks ago. The acoustic guitar player / singer that sounded like Johnny Cash was a little drab for RAM imo. The juggler was really good and fun to watch. The best performance was the children's drum circle. How they got all those little guys to play percussion together in unison and not just make a lot of noise was amazing.

Shwaz · April 13, 2009, 10:57:48 AM

I think the RAM venue would be great for an outdoor movie. I know it was very popular in Jax beach when they did them at the amphitheater.

During the spring & fall months a movie at dusk would be great and wouldn't run much after the 4pm RAM closing. Maybe 1 or 2 of the food vendors could stay open and the 5 Points Theater could run the movie.

Steve · April 13, 2009, 12:49:06 PM

Quote from: fsujax on April 13, 2009, 09:03:26 AM
What do people think about JTA extending the Riverside Trolley to run on Saturday to serve this market? Thoughts? Hours of operation, etc.? I know JTA people read this site, so they might like to get our thoughts.

What would be a single negative of this. It would combat the biggest negative of RAM, and that's the lack of connectivity of the site to downtown. It would be the perfect addition to it.

Eventually, I want a streetcar (with real tracks), but for now, it would be great.

Johnny · April 13, 2009, 01:15:54 PM

Quote from: BridgeTroll on April 07, 2009, 12:41:27 PM
Were you one of the guys wrapping him up in chains?

Yep, it was kind of fun being up there part of the show.

Ron Mexico · April 27, 2009, 09:58:44 AM

I think this is a great thing, but has anyone else noticed that people aren't leaving with purchases? They seem to come to RAM, walk around by some food and then leave. Does anyone know if the merchants there are making any money. If not, this won't last long.

blizz01 · April 27, 2009, 10:20:21 AM

I think people buy what they like if what's offered is intriguing enough & priced right. If your product isn't marketable, then it won't sell successfully in any setting. I'm sure that this will work itself out over time & there will certainly be natural attrition specific to some of the vendors that started, however, I would hope that they would be replaced with something "fresher". Is there still a waiting list for vendors? Quality over quantity in the meantime. Having said that, I did find myself purchasing (out of novelty) produce last weekend that I probably could have otherwise picked up at Publix for a lesser price/better looking.