Foodie Friday, Moon Market kick off summer of night markets
The City of Butler has come out of hibernation ... and its stomach is growling.
That hunger was satiated by the return of Foodie Fridays, in tandem with the first Moon Market, on Friday, May 16. Together, the two night markets packed in crowds along the sidewalks and parking lots lining Main Street.
Near First English Lutheran Church, trucks and tents filled a parking lot, as hundreds of attendees chose their food and drink of choice. Vendors served alcoholic beverages, barbecue, gyros, pizza, kettle corn, lemonade and more.
The May rendition’s theme was Flower Power, an homage to the hippie culture of the ’60s and ’70s.
The event was organized by Butler Downtown. Audrianna Bly, Butler Downtown board president, said she’s happy to be back in the swing of things.
“It’s nice to have a little break, and then we like when it starts back up again, to be able to feel the community vibe that we have, getting people downtown and having really good musicians,” Bly said.
One new feature of this year’s Foodie Fridays is a “best truck” competition, as attendees could scan a QR code to vote on their favorite vendor. Bly said the winner at the end of the summer will receive a prize.
Then, further south down Main Street, the Moon Market gathered its own crowds as vendors sold oddities, jewelry, fudge, goat milk soap, art and more.
Cami Cruz is the owner of Cami’s Dreamland, where she sells various art creations. Some of her most popular are assorted resin jewelry.
“I use a lot of resin,” Cruz said. “I take real flowers and I put in resin. Some of them, I put stickers or images, sometimes I do a drawing.”
She said it was not her first year driving from Greensburg to have her table at the market. Despite the hour drive, she said she believes coming out to the Moon Market every year is worth it.
“It’s a pretty good market,” Cruz said. “People here like unique stuff. It’s just a good crowd of people who come out here.”
Kat Tarr, of Franklin, made the drive to Butler to participate in the Moon Market. She said it was the first year Kat’s Krazy Crochet Korner set up at the event. Some of her crochet creations include spiders, chickens, opossum and turtles.
“It keeps me sane,” Tarr said. “I get some of the crochet patterns, and I design some of my own.”
Foodie Friday and Moon Market will return to Butler on June 20, and continue to run on the third Friday of the month through August.
