Szimpla Farmers' Market. We can say that the market is already well known in the district and not only there but in whole Budapest and also abroad as there is already such a Farmers' Market in Berlin. One year, several dozens of occasions, and hundreds of programs, and what is most important it is self-sustaining. Organised by ELTE University's Human ecology Department and Szimpla Kert, the market provides what citizens, suburban people, youngsters, the elderly, school kids, university students, girls, boys, mothers, grandmas, family men, bachelors, agriculture experts, hipsters, etc. need. At least it seems as we look back on the last more than one year. The market started last October, so this is the first such initiative in Budapest. In the first half year it wasn't organised every week but it has grown and improved every time. Since 10th June you can visit the market every Sunday from 9 am until 2 pm, and on 25th November (on Katalin day) we organised the 25th market. More than 25 thousand people have visited us, 65 different producers and farmers provided their products and we tried to entertain the guest with a lot of interesting and different programs.
The children have seen puppet shows played creative games, the Szimpla Band has played great music (even when it rained cats and dogs) giving the market a special atmosphere. There was slam poetry, readings, remembering Kazinczy, films, music jams, dancing, fashion show, spontaneous events and so on. It's good to see that the people who come to sell their product leave satisfied and they come back again and again. It's worth coming back as there are more and more interested customers. Many people know the market at Klauzál square, there is a big Spar taking the place of the stalls and the conditions are terrible. The Farmers' Market is a place not only for shopping for food but a communal space to eat, enjoy live music with great people. Gábor Bertényi, one of the founders of Szimpla) answered to the question if the good days of markets are over: "I don't think so as it is a well-established, few thousand-year-old institution, without it, the I cannot imagine a city. The market is not only a shopping place but a forum and a meeting point. In the current context the market in the capital -or the lack of it - tells a lot about the relationship between Budapest and the countryside.
I mean that the market could be the natural connection between the people where the citizens can meet the farmers and people working in agriculture (which are soon to be extinct jobs). The market gives an opportunity to these last ones and to the knowledge they have which would be lost as the home gardening is getting forgotten. Based on the authentic products and the sellers it could turn out that the countryside is more than a parcel with utilities or a lawn rectangle surrounded by thuja-trees where the air is fresh but Budapest is too far, unfortunately." How essential part of a city is the market is proven by the Berlin/Kreuzberg example, where a civilian group made the local municipal get rid of the big company from the old market hall of the district. The Markthalle Neun was reopened by civilians, it functions as a market, where you can buy food, vegetables and fruits and also handmade products. There are also special programs, from slow food to home-made pálinka. This initiative is a great example and educational as there is a market hall very close to Szimpla Kert and that needs such rehabilitation also. That's why on 24th November the Szimpla Farmers' Market was a guest of Markthalle Neun as part of a field trip. Ten Hungarian producers products were sold and the success was unexpectedly huge. As a result (although less wide range of products) it will be repeated every Saturday until Christmas. And the leaders of the Markthalle Neun will be introduced at a conference in Szimpla Kert.
Do not forget, the Szimpla Farmers' Market is open every Sunday from 9 o'clock. All you have to do is come to Kazinczy Street or if you are in Berlin go to Gärtnerstraße.
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