Get ready for Music in the Park!
Shoppers make their way through the Silver Valley Community Market during its opening night in 2021. This year, the market will be retooled and called Music in the Park.
Photo by JOSH McDONALD
KELLOGG — Get ready for a summer of live music and locally brewed beer.
The event formerly known as the Silver Valley Community Market has been redubbed Music in the Park and it kicks off in just two months.
Hosted by the Silver Valley Chamber of Commerce, their community market event had grown exponentially year-over-year since its inception in 2017.
After three successful years, the market was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Organizers tried to bring the event back last summer, but for whatever reason — be it the lingering effects of the pandemic or even a lack of knowledge that it was happening — the event didn’t quite come back as expected.
Diannah Fields-Brown, one of the event coordinators, couldn’t quite isolate what caused last year to be down in terms of the market, but she also did notice where it was successful.
“Post-COVID, we didn’t have the vendor participation like we had in the past,” Fields-Brown said. “We had received a few complaints from some residents that we didn’t have enough vendors, but many of them mentioned that they had enjoyed being able to sit and enjoy the music.”
And that realization really prompted an idea that would govern the direction that Fields-Brown and the rest of the committee would go in planning this year’s event.
“We decided that since so many people came out specifically to listen to the music and have a drink that we’d make that the focal point,” Fields-Brown said. “We will have vendors as well, but the music will be the focus.”
Once again, the event will be hosted on the south side of the Kellogg City Park, adjacent to the swimming pool where a sidewalk makes for an easy walking path through the vendor area before leading up to where the musicians will be set up.
“The city of Kellogg has been terrific to work with and does a good job keeping the park looking nice,” Fields-Brown said.
Chamber Director Becca Stone is still taking vendor registrations, and has put together a very cost-effective plan for new vendors that should ensure that this market becomes one of their favorites.
For non-chamber members, each market comes with $20 vendor-fee, but for members of the Silver Valley Chamber of Commerce, each market is free to set up at.
Stone is offering $80 lone-wolf memberships that can be purchased by the vendors — the 10-week market could cost as much as $200 for non-members.
The Silver Valley Chamber’s Music in the Park begins on June 23, from 5-7:30 p.m. and then subsequently each Thursday until Aug. 25.
Interested vendors can reach out to becca@silvervalleychamber.com with any questions or to begin the registration process.