FROM A FLEA MARKET to food trucks to a farmers’ market, the Rice County Fairgrounds in Faribault will be abuzz with activity on Saturday. And I can’t wait. After a year of mostly social isolation, Randy and I are finally vaccine-protected and ready to enjoy local events.
The May 15 trio of activities begins at 8 a.m. with the Rice County Historical Society’s Spring Flea Market. Rain or shine, the outdoor market runs until 2 p.m. in the RCHS museum parking lot and grounds. I’ve attended this event in the past. It’s fun to look through the assortment of merchandise from antiques and collectibles to crafts and much more. One person’s “junk” truly is another person’s treasure.
In the heart of the fairgrounds, farmers, producers, bakers, crafters and others will vend their products at the Cannon Valley Farmers’ Market from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. The locally-grown, homemade goods come from small-scale farmers and producers in Minnesota’s Cannon River Valley. The Cannon River runs just across the road from the fairgrounds. Twenty-plus vendors will sell everything from beef to eggs to chocolate treats, bread, jelly, honey, cheese, homemade soap, plants and much more.
Also starting at 10 a.m. is Fair Food Truck Days with eight trucks open for food sales: Cavemen Grilling, Delicious Potatoes, El Rey Del Taco, Lopez Concessions, Pretzel Wiz, Schroder Concessions, Temple Concessions and The Local Plate. Food sales will run until 4 p.m. and then repeat on Sunday at the same time. This will jumpstart the season of community festivals and fairs after a year without.
That said, we are still in a pandemic. If you attend, please follow all COVID safety guidelines (ie. wearing face masks and social distancing) as set by the state and hosting parties. We owe it to our friends, neighbors and strangers, especially unvaccinated kids, to keep them safe.
© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Hi Audrey,
Thank you so much for sharing this event on your blog! Please stop by my stand on Saturday for a free dozen of eggs of your choice, a small token of my appreciation.
Tiffany Tripp
Sent from my iPhone
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Thank you, Tiffany. That’s so sweet of you. I’ll see you on Saturday.
I wanna go! 😦
Ah, Penny, if only you were closer than Texas.
I Know!! I think we would have such a good time hanging out!! 🙂
I agree.
Change of subject: Have you disabled comments on your blog? I don’t see a place to comment.
The only one I did that for was the one I Reblogged of yours. I was trying to drive the traffic & comments to your site. Is that the one you tried?
I just commented on your latest post, so all is seemingly good now.
I love that events are starting up again, it feels good to get back to seeing people, socializing and browsing outdoor markets. Have fun my friend. Have fun!
We’ll ease cautiously back into the public. I’m not a happy camper this morning with the governor’s decision to lift the mask mandate. As I see that, it won’t encourage vaccination and will put our kids (those not eligible for vaccination) at much higher risk.
First- congratulations on being fully vaccinated! Second- this sounds like such fun!!! Really, just what everyone needs to perk up after a year of isolation. I was recently reading the Pine Journal (Cloquet, MN online paper) and saw they had their yearly Chicken Swap! Oh, how my heart misses this time of the year in MN. Have fun this weekend and hopefully you find something interesting to blog about.
A Chicken Swap? You mean as in swapping poultry? As we say in Minnesota, “That’s different.”
Have you heard that the mask mandate in MN is ending today? Not a good move, in my opinion, given all the people who remain unvaccinated. I feel especially for the young families.
😂 I guess it must be a Northern MN thing, Chicken Swap. It is like a huge poultry sale and trade and flea market of all sorts of farm items. The one in Mathowa brings in farmers from the entire area and I have seen pigs, calves, goats… well you get the idea.
I did see and hear about the mask mandate. I also think it is too early. I get the CDC weekly update and 32000/day of positive Americans is still too high even if vaccinated is at a higher rate. I believe the entire world is pushing the envelope of opening.
Thanks for explaining the Chicken Swap.
I absolutely agree with you on “pushing the envelope.” I don’t expect the masking change to push the unvaccinated to vaccination. Rather, I expect it to have the reverse effect.
In reading your recent postings I appreciate how you always strive to bring out the positive qualities of your community and refuse to dwell on the negatives. You are such a champion for the area.
Thank you, Sue. Faribault has a lot of good things to offer and I want to highlight those and perhaps help locals grow their appreciation for our community.