To the Editor:

One of my more eagerly anticipated warmer weather experiences is the Saturday morning Farmers’ Market at the waterfront.

As I was leaving last Saturday, I said to one of the vendors, “I’ll see you next week.” I was quite surprised, and not pleasantly, when she replied, “No, they’ve asked us not to come next week because of the festival.”

I suppose that the festival will bring in more revenue on Saturday than the usual weekly Farmers’ Market event; but the artisans, specialty and produce vendors attract people to the Washington waterfront throughout the season who patronize the downtown restaurants and merchants after the Farmers’ Market closes at noon. The cumulative economic effect of a season of Saturdays may not be so much less than the “take” from a single weekend festival.

Some of us may enjoy the experience of a local market, others the more  carnival atmosphere of a festival, most people probably enjoy both; but it seems to me that the vendors who show up faithfully every weekend should have been given the option of serving their regular customers should they choose to do so instead of being dismissively told “not to come.”

I, for one, will miss them, not just the experience of buying local produce and products, but the pleasure of seeing people who have become a part of what makes Saturday mornings at the Washington waterfront so special to me.

CAROL DWORKOWSKI

Washington