The Park Silly Sunday Market is optimistic despite I-80 closures tomorrow.
The market was not significantly affected last weekend, said Jaimie Atlas, program diva for the market.
Looking forward to tomorrow, she said many of the Salt Lake vendors and non-profit group representatives have said they’ll come up the night before or make the trek through Provo Canyon.
Atlas does not expect any noticeable changes to the Aug. 17 market. The eastbound lanes will close Saturday at 7 p.m. and are scheduled to reopen at 7 p.m. Sunday.
Jewels Harrison, visionary director for the market, said she’s had several people tell her they’re planning on taking advantage of the incentives promoted by the Park City Bureau/Chamber for visitors to stay all weekend.
“Vendors are excited. The Chamber promotion of getting stuck in Park City is a great move,” she said.
Even though Salt Lake residents won’t be able to drive up the canyon on Sunday morning, Harrison said she’s confident that plenty of people will come to the market after staying the night.
Locals traditionally make the market successful and are the target buyers for many vendors, she said. That’s why the closures have had little impact on sales even though there’s been a slight decrease in foot traffic.
About 3,500 people attended last weekend, that’s a little lower than normal. But it’s typical for markets to see slowing in mid-August as parents take advantage of the time to do back-to-school shopping and run other errands. It then picks up again once school starts, she said.
Jen Schumacher, business manager for the Coda Gallery and market regular, said she didn’t see a difference in sales last week.
“The quantity of visitors was a little less, but the quality was definitely there,” she said.