Inverness Farmers' Market goes online during coronavirus pandemic
Inverness Farmers’ Market is planning to promote stallholders digitally after being forced to abandon the first Saturday date in its 20-year history.
The much-loved monthly fixture on the city's calendar was scheduled for this weekend but, with the Covid-19 outbreak worsening, the difficult decision was taken to cancel.
Debbie and Hamish McBean, who run Score Farm at Glenferness near Nairn, are aiming to do all they can to keep trade flowing for more than 20 food and craft exhibitors and other suppliers.
Mrs McBean said: "A lot of our stallholders are already online and people can order from them. That's the only way they can work it at the moment.
"It was a very difficult decision for us to take, but keeping people two metres away from each other at a market stall is absolutely impossible.
"The clear advice is to avoid groups of people and if you had queues at the cheese or the eggs, which are our most popular stalls, then basically you have a crowd.
"We don't have room to have the usual number of people and keep them all the correct distance apart. On top of that, some of our own people have underlying conditions and there are a few over 70. They've got to look after themselves.”
The hugely-successful market, which is always held on the first Saturday of each month, began in 2000 and has steadily grown in popularity ever since.
It is credited as bringing a big early morning footfall to the city centre on market days throughout the year.
Mrs McBean said: "The April market is the first we've ever cancelled. We have been through things like the foot and mouth crisis and managed to keep going. I was loathe to cancel it but, really and truly, with the way things are at the moment I'm glad we did.
"But it falls on the stallholders who are losing their income, so we will be putting all the information, contacts and web addresses on our website to try and ensure people are informed about where they can get their usual produce from individual stallholders."
Details of farmers' market can be found at https://invernessfarmersmarket.co.uk/
