The Park Silly Sunday Market is a bonafide Park City experience. The Silly Market, or Park Silly, as locals call it, is a summertime open-air, family- and eco-friendly artisan fair.
This year’s market will set up on lower Main Street, along with offerings south of Heber Ave., from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. June 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, July 14 and 21, and Sept. 1, 8, 15 and 22, says Executive Director Kate McChesney.
“We will have about 175 to 200 vendors on the street on any given Sunday, and we rotate through over 400 (throughout the season),” she explains. “We are always looking for a good assortment, generally something that isn’t really offered on Main Street.”
Park Silly Sunday Market History
That’s a far cry from the 40 booths the market started with when it debuted in 2006. Back then it was founded by McChesney’s sister Kimberly Kuehn, and a few years later, McChesney and Michelle McDonald took over operations.
Vendors included arts, crafts, accessories, jewelry, lotions, apparel, and food, to name a few, and the Silly Market has provided a starting place for some of Park City’s beloved brick-and-mortar restaurants and other food purveyors and businesses.
Those include:
• 11 Hauz Authentic Jamaican Food
• Red Bicycle Breadworks
• Freshies Lobster Co.
• Nosh
• Sammy’s Bistro
• Auntie Em’s Baked Goods
• Spencer’s Smokin’ Grill
In fact, Spencer’s, which is now located in Prospector, was one of the food kiosks that were set up during the first Park Silly Sunday Market in 2006.
Youth-preneurs Focus
Park Silly also prides itself on supporting up-and-coming entrepreneurs, that also includes “youth-preneurs.”
Providing a place for young entrepreneurs is one of the Silly Market’s important roles, according to McChesney. These youth-fronted businesses range from creating original pup-toys and dog treats to selling lemonade, making jewelry, and more.
“We average seven to eight youth vendors every weekend,” McChesney says. “Youth ‘kid-preneurs’ are a big target market for us and we love them. There are so many more children who are passionate and entrepreneurial in Park City, Summit County, and the Wasatch Back. Watching all of them come through Park Silly and develop and grow is incredible.
Local youths also fill a portion of the live music lineup that is programmed by Mountain Town Music. One young musician who cut his teeth playing at Park Silly, as well as other local venues, is “American Idol” contestant Wyatt Pike.
Silly Market Farmers Market
Throughout the years, the Silly Market has offered a small farmers market, which offered gourmet food ingredients, that was set up by the Post Office on Main Street, but in 2023, McChesney and McDonald, who is the director of operations, felt it was time to make a change.
“We made the decision to incorporate the farmers market into lower Main Street,” McChesneys explains. “We had heard from upper Main Street they wanted parking back and certain residents wanted to be able to access the Post Office on Sundays, so our gourmet food vendors are now scattered throughout lower Main Street.”
Nonprofit Support
As a way to support local nonprofits, Park Silly Sunday Market provides a place to educate the public about these organizations and their missions. The market offers complimentary booth spaces for one Sunday to five non-profits, which have included People’s Health Clinic and Nuzzles & Co.
Spend Your Summer at Park Silly
Last year’s market attracted more than 183,000 people, and McChesney says it means so much to her that the Park Silly Market has been a summertime tradition in the Wasatch Back.
“It feels like home,” she says. “(We’re) finally feeling that we are appreciated as a staple and tradition to be on Main Street where we have been for the last 17 years, and this year will be number 18.”
For further information, visit parksillysundaymarket.com