Key West Artisan Market Scheduled to Start Sunday Cancelled Until Further Notice

Per the City of Key West: “With due regard to the safe and healthy environment in Key West, the City has cancelled the Holiday Parade and all special events on City property through December 31^st due to the concerns regarding the COVID-19 increase in cases in Key West and Monroe County.” This includes the Key West Artisan Market which was scheduled to start this Sunday, November 22 at Indigenous Park. After months of delay by Monroe County for permits at the Higgs beach location next to the dog park, the City had reached out to organizers to offer the new location in the parking lot of the Wildlife Bird Sanctuary as an alternative. The City Commission passed the resolution unanimously at the November 17 meeting. In the few days since, the Commission passed a strengthened face covering mandate at an emergency meeting and have been working on other measures to help lower potential COVID exposure.

“We are devastated for our artists, vendors and mom and pop businesses who have worked hard to beef up inventory to meet the demands of this popular market,” organizer Sean Krikorian said. “Many of them have had very limited opportunity to make any income during the seven months of being shut down. But at the same time we stand behind the City’s decision to keep our community safe and appreciate all they are doing to move Key West in a better direction.” Krikorian acknowledged.

For now, the Key West Truman Waterfront Farmers Market will be allowed to continue as it is considered an essential service by the state of Florida. With Thanksgiving on Thursday, the Market will move to Friday and operate from 10 am to 6 pm. The Market hopes to move to Wednesday the week of Christmas and New Year to avoid conflicting with Christmas and New Years eve.

“Safety for our guests and participants at all the Markets is our highest priority,” Krikorian stated. “We will continue to work with the City to develop protocols that hopefully will allow us to continue operating the Farmers Market and open the Artisan Market soon.”