Greetings! We are gearing up for the Downtown Bloomington Farmers' Market 2011 season and are ready to start accepting applications from artists and fine crafts vendors. You should have already received an invitation to our pre-season meeting--so we are hoping to see you there.
As a reminder, the pre-season meeting is scheduled for March 5 from 10:30 a.m. until noon at the McLean County Museum of History, located at 200 North Main Street. This meeting will provide an opportunity for you to meet other prospective vendors, ask questions, and get additional information about the Downtown Bloomington Farmers' Market.
This year, we are requesting that vendor applications be submitted electronically. This approach saves paper and postage, and helps us avoid errors resulting when we have to re-enter vendor information into our records. A link to the online application is provided at the end of this email.
The Market will open on May 14 and will continue on Saturday mornings from 7:30 a.m. until noon through October 29. Again this year, we will sponsor a Thanksgiving Market on the weekend before Thanksgiving--November 19--at the U. S. Cellular Coliseum in downtown Bloomington from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Vendors participating in the regular season will have an opportunity to participate in this popular holiday market on a "space available" basis.
Artists may choose to participate as full-season vendors (and receive the same booth space each week) or partial season vendors ("drop-in" booth space on a "first come first served" basis until designated spaces are full). Full season artists will be charged $250 for the season, which equates to $10 per day. Partial season artists will be charged $15 per Saturday in attendance. In addition, there is a non-refundable $20 jury fee for all artists, which must be submitted before an application can be considered. All artists, whether full-season or partial season, are required to be approved by the jury before allowing to set up at the Downtown Bloomington Farmers' Market.
Please note that vendors are responsible for adhering to government regulations, including State Sales Tax requirements. We are unable to consider applications without a valid Illinois Tax ID number. If you do not currently have an Illinois tax identification number, you can apply online through the Illinois Business Gateway. After you register, you will be assigned a tax ID in approximately 24 hours. You can then log back into the Illinois Business Gateway to retrieve your ID number.
Here is what is needed to complete your application:
Approved applicants who submit all application materials before March 30 will receive their acceptance notices by April 15. If you have questions about the Market, please email Elaine Sebald at bloomington_farmersmarket@yahoo.com or call Downtown Bloomington Association at 309-829-9599.
We are looking forward to your participation in the 2010 Downtown Bloomington Farmers' Market and hope to see you at our pre-season meeting on March 5.
DOWNTOWN BLOOMINGTON FARMERS' MARKET & ARTISTS' ALLEY |
