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The Great American Market- What You Need to Know to Participate.

Avatar photo by Jessica Buchholz, Events Coordinator | September 3, 2021
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Whether you are searching for that special retail something from Market vendors, hitting up a local food truck, or checking out some of the area non-profits holding fundraisers, the Great American Market is one of our longest running community events with measurable positive impacts for our local community.
The Great American Market will take place on Saturday, September 11th, from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the 600 through 1100 Blocks of Commercial Street. As of this publication we have over 150 booths signed up to participate in the Market, making this one of the most diverse Great American Markets in the event’s history. Local vendors, area businesses, and vendors from far outside our local region are making the trip to downtown Emporia for this year’s event. Here are some things to know for this year’s Market:
Safety: The Great American Market will include more spacing between booths than in a pre-COVID year. That spacing, when coupled with hand washing stations, hand sanitizer, free mask handouts (while supplies last) and a host of other safety mechanisms are designed to help keep you and your family safe while we all have fun! In the past, we have included entertainment options at the Market, but we decided to forego the “stop and congregate” activities this year to help enhance distancing. You are welcome to go into any of our local restaurants or bars for a drink, but we don’t have beer gardens at the Great American Market.
Parking: We know that vendors and local businesses are more successful when people have better access to events and their storefronts/booth fronts. We need all vehicles off of Commercial Street by 3:00 a.m. on September 11th (all vehicles on Commercial Street after that point will be towed). On the west side of Commercial Street, on 7th Avenue, the street will be closed for the Kansas Trike Festival. There are plenty of parking spaces in parking lots on Merchant and Mechanic Streets to accommodate crowds rotating through the Market throughout the day.
Selection: The Great American Market has vendor booths from 6th Avenue to 12th Avenue, and every intersection full with different types of vendors. We have spaced the booths to allow more room between vendors, but the Market is currently full. We took the online listing off of the website, and now we need individuals interested in a booth to contact Emporia Main Street independently for a booth space and placement. There are some awesome vendors of a variety of types available, and with an ESU Football game on the same day as the Great American Market, we should see a rotation of consumers throughout the day.
Storefronts: With employee shortages, several storefronts have opted to run in-store specials adjacent to the Market. Restaurants and bars will offer ways to escape the Market for some additional sit-down food and beverage options. Storefront specials will extend well beyond the Great American Market footprint, and we encourage shoppers to hit side streets, Merchant Street, and Commercial Street south of 6th Avenue for more Market deals! If you are a storefront in the downtown either inside or adjacent to the Great American Market area, and you would like Emporia Main Street to help promote your specials on the day of the Great American Market, please contact us by CLICKING HERE.
Volunteer Opportunities: The Great American Market requires a lot of boots on the ground. All six city blocks of the Market require “Block Captain” help to guide vendors to their booths in their respective blocks from 4:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., the Emporia Main Street booth can use help throughout the day staffing our booth to interact with the public, and we always say “cleanup is part of the event”, so cleanup activities starting at 3:30 p.m. can use some assistance. If you would like to volunteer CLICK HERE or contact Emporia Main Street.
Advocacy: The Great American Market is a wonderful opportunity to introduce your friends and family outside of Emporia to a plethora of shopping and dining activities. Share news about the Market with your friends, and encourage a daytrip for this event to Emporia that impacts our local economy! CLICK HERE for the social media event, and make sure you “share” the event and forward it to friends!
Participating businesses: You can fi most of the participating Great American Market vendors by CLICKING HERE! We have approximately 150 different booths signed up at this time, and individuals that want to sign up as vendors at this point need to contact the Emporia Main Street office directly.
The Great American Market is always held the second Saturday of September, and September 11th is almost here! Make plans to head to downtown Emporia for this year’s Great American Market!

About the Author

Jessica Buchholz, Events Coordinator

Jessica Buchholz is the Community Development Coordinator for Emporia Main Street in Emporia, Kansas. She specializes in event planning, volunteer recruitment, alternative marketing, media/public relations and fundraising. During Jessica's tenure at Emporia Main Street, she has helped grow events to an international level and she has created a series of new activities to meet organizational goals.