Morgan Bettes Angell Provides Update about the Local Venice Farmers Market
Editor’s Note: We spoke with Morgan Bettes Angell to get an update about the region’s popular Venice Farmers Market. It’s open 8am to 1pm every Saturday October through April and 8am to noon May through September. The address is 401 W. Venice Ave. on Venice Island in front of Venice City Hall. Visit TheVeniceFarmersMarket.org. Read the longer interview at SouthCountyHealthyLiving.com.
Morgan, what’s the latest with the Venice Farmers Market?
We’re enjoying welcoming our winter seasonal visitors back, including some of our vendors that travel out of the area for summer. We’ve welcomed over a dozen new vendors since taking over management in July of 2022. We look forward to launching some new programs this winter including a weekly kids booth with a free activity, a monthly local featured chef demo, bringing in new local musicians and so much more online including our first giveaway!
Who are some of the newer vendors?
Some of our new vendors include Petrichor Mushrooms, King of Guacamole, El Guajiro Cigars, Greek Triangles (spanakopita), and Jason’s Advanced Bromeliads. Readers can read profiles about our vendors posted on our website.
What’s the brief history of the Venice Farmers Market?
The Venice Farmers Market has a long local history. The former manager, Lee Perron, was awarded the contract to manage the market for the City of Venice in July 2017 and my company, Independent Jones was awarded the contract in July of 2022 following Lee’s retirement. Our goal is to make sure the market continues to be a fun and safe place to shop every Saturday year round. We are grateful to all of our partners including the City of Venice, Venice MainStreet, the Venice Area Chamber of Commerce, Feeding Florida, Fresh Access Bucks (FAB), and the SNAP Program. FAB is a nutrition incentive program that increases the purchasing power of SNAP recipients to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
Please introduce your right hand man?
Antonio Hernandez, a resident of North Port, is our Chief Events Officer. You’ll see Antonio interacting with vendors and visitors every Saturday.
What’s your background in event management?
I’ve been managing local markets the last seven years and our company has been producing events in the entertainment industry for over a decade. A lot of my experience involves producing large scale public events in collaboration with diverse partners including nonprofit, municipalities, and the private sector. We’ve managed small events with 50 people and large events with more than 15,000 guests.
What are some of your other interests?
I enjoy spending time with family and friends. Ryan and I have three pups that keep us busy and laughing. We both appreciate traveling, live music, food, and art in many forms.
