Portland Saturday Market Reopens For 48th Season After Year Off

PORTLAND, OR — It's been a tough two years for the Portland Saturday Market. The 2020 season was canceled because of the arrival of the pandemic and while they were a blessing to have a partial season last year, there were other obstacles.

The market and many of its vendors had been financially hobbled by the 2020 cancelation. A GoFundMe was set up last year to raise $150,000. The market also had to deal with smoke from wildfires and the changing COVID-9 restrictions.

All of that, market organizers hope, is in the past.

The market will open at 10 a.m., close at 5 p.m. and repeat that process every Saturday and Sunday until December 24. As always, it will be at its home in Waterfront Park where it's been since May 2009.

Sheri Teasdale and Andrea Scharf started the market in 1974, which opened for the first time in a parking lot downtown, which was lent to them by developer Bill Naito. Two years later they moved to Burnside in Old Town where they stayed for 34 years.

Organizers say that the market attracts around 1 million visitors every year who spend approximately $10 million total.

The market hosts around 400 artists and food vendors who rotate through its 258 marked-off spaces. All would-be vendors also have to present their wares to a jury that makes sure their goods are up to market standards.

You can find out more about the market on their website.