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Soulita and InDowncity to Launch Weekly Providence Holiday Shopping Event
Shop local and support small businesses downtown with a marketplace, live music, and food vendors at Celebrate Downcity 2021
InDowncity and Soulita are excited to announce their first ever collaboration, Celebrate Downcity 2021. The event will be held at Grant’s Block and on Westminster Street, between Eddy Street and Union Street, in downtown Providence. The weekly holiday festival will kick off on Nov. 27 for Small Business Saturday and continue each Saturday, including Dec. 4, Dec. 11, and Dec. 18, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Each Saturday will feature local small businesses, musicians, artists, and food vendors.
Celebrate Downcity brings together Providence’s local creative community and small businesses to offer guests the best holiday shopping experience the city has to offer. A marketplace at Grant’s Block—organized by Soulita—will welcome over 20 local vendors. Merchandise will include a range of products, including clothing, jewelry, skincare items, accessories, housewares, greenery, and more. Each marketplace will be accompanied by festive live musical performances featuring local talent.
“Come experience Celebrate Downcity 2021,” says Evan Delpeche, Co-Owner of Soulita, “as we establish a cornerstone of local makers and sellers of Rhode Island. At Soulita, we continuously strive to unite, inspire, and create through artistic expression in public environments.”
On Westminster Street, shoppers can also enjoy a well curated selection of gifts at Craftland, Queen of Hearts and Modern Love, Symposium Books and Records, The Vault Collective, Civil, Homestyle, and Eno Fine Wines. Each shop offers a variety of unique items, from handmade cards to vintage clothing to skate equipment, providing shoppers with a one-stop location for holiday purchases.
“Our local businesses experienced a tremendous setback last holiday season,” says Joanna Levitt, Director of Commercial Leasing and Marketing for Cornish Associates. “InDowncity and Cornish Associates are here to encourage and celebrate their path towards recovery. This holiday, these businesses will be vibrant, filled with unique goods and ready for their customers to shop safely. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Soulita, bringing creatives from throughout the city to downtown to showcase the best local holiday shopping our community has to offer.”
For event dining, InDowncity will welcome a line-up of favorite food and beverage vendors, along with cafe-style outdoor seating on Westminster Street. Visitors are invited to sit under the heaters and enjoy refreshing beverages from Long Live Brewery and delicious food from weekly rotating food vendors. Restaurants and cafes on and along Westminster Street will be open for dining as well, including Small Point Cafe, Sura, Kleos, Little City Coffee and Kitchen, Serendipity Gourmet, and the Malted Barley.
RI Brewers Guild Fundraiser
https://ri-brewers-guild.square.site
Warming Inside and Out: Melvin Brewing and Kühl® Launch NEW Scenario Porter with KÜHL® Giveaways and a Clothing Drive
Get the warm fuzzies this fall with a new collaborative release from Melvin Brewing and premier outdoor apparel brand Kühl®. In conjunction with Scenario Porter’s debut, Melvin and KÜHL® are giving back to the local communities where Melvin’s beer is sold and warming bodies on the outside by giving regional charities one premium quality KÜHL® jacket for every 10 cases or two kegs of Scenario Porter sold. Scenario Porter is available in limited release for three months starting Nov. 1 at select retailers coast-to-coast.
A robust porter made with oats and midnight wheat, Scenario Porter (6% ABV/MSRP $9.99/12-ounce six pack) is a beer fit to warm your insides with the rich, warming flavors of burnt sugar, cocoa and toast. It’s the first in a series of rotating seasonal releases from Melvin focusing on less-hoppier beer styles.
Melvin Field Hoperatives will be hosting Scenario Porter tap events throughout the country where they’ll collect gently-used gear and warm clothing in good condition for donation to regional charities. Everyone who shows up at an event with donations will be entered to win a KÜHL® jacket of their own.
“As a fellow independent brand, we feel a kinship with the good folks at Melvin. We are proud and honored to collaborate on such a worthwhile promotion,” says Jonny Atencio, Director of Strategic Partnerships, KÜHL®.
Availability: Look for Scenario Porter in 12-ounce six-packs starting Nov. 1 at independent retailers in WA; OR; CA; ID; MT; AK; WY; CO; UT; SD; NE; MO; OH; MA; RI; DC; VA; and FL.
Winter Season Kicks Off at Farm Fresh Providence Farmers Market
The year-round Farm Fresh Providence Farmers Market kicks off its renowned Wintertime season on November 6, 2021. Now in its 15th year and the largest indoor market of its kind in New England, the farmers market runs every Saturday 9am to 1pm. The winter season runs through April 30, 2022, and the market runs year-round. For more information: farmfreshri.org/PVDmarket.
Market goers can shop with over 65 local farm and food vendors in a custom-built facility designed for hosting year-round markets. Think plenty of parking and room to move around. The new Farm Fresh building is also home to other local small businesses that will be open during market hours for a full range local farm, food, and beverage experiences. Anchor Toffee, New Harvest Coffee & Spirits, Red Tomato (no retail), and Rhed’s Hot Sauce are open now and Providence Brewing Company, Robin Hollow Farm, Tallulah’s Taqueria, and Wright’s Creamery will be opening over the coming months. (Opening dates vary, stay tuned.)
Special Holiday Market — Wednesday, December 22
The regular Saturday market will be closed on Christmas and New Years Day, 12/25/2021 and 1/1/2022. But a special Holiday Market has your holiday shopping covered — Wednesday evening, 12/22, from 3 to 7pm.
Local Vendors at the Farmers Market
The wintertime season kicks off with these local farms and food artisans at the market: African Alliance of RI, Allen Farms, Barden Family Orchard, Barrett’s Garden, Beautiful Day, Beth Bakes, Black Leaf Tea & Culture Shop, Bonetown BBQ, Buns Bakery, Butter Cuisine, Chi Kitchen, Clover Desserts, Cluck & Trowel, The Coffee Guy, La Creperie, Dee’s Little Sweets, Deep Roots Farm, Delicious Deli, Distinguish Catering, Earth Essence Herbals, Fairland Farms, Farmacy Herbs, Fearless Fish Market, Flying Carrot Farm, Fully Rooted, gC Farm, Great Harvest Bread Company, Harmony Hill Farm, Harvest Kitchen, Herbs and Mylk, Hopkins Southdowns, Incred-a-bowl, Jack’s Snacks a Dog Bakery, June Love’s English Bakery, Just Like Nana’s, Kane’s Kitchen, Knead Doughnuts, Lafleur’s Wildflower Honey, Langwater Farm, Lara’s Cuisine, The Local Catch, Lucayda Farm, Luluna Kombucha, Martinelli’s Meats, Matilda, Moonlight Rose Alpacas, Narragansett Creamery, Newport Sea Salt Co., Nuts & Bolts Nursery Coop, Ocean State Pepper Co., Pat’s Pastured, Pickily, Provencal Bakery, Rebelle Artisan Bagels, Rhode Island Spa Products, RI Mushroom Co., Rocket Fine Street Food, Sanctuary Herbs of Providence, Secrets in the Kitchen, Seven Stars Bakery, Silk Tree Farm, Silver Thistle Farm & Cheesery, Simmons Farm, Skydog Farm, Slowhand Sharpening, Soul Fresh Proteins, Steere Orchard, Sweet and Salty Farm, Sweet Possibilities, Triton Seafood, Ward’s Berry Farm, Wishing Stone Farm, Zeigler’s Market Garden.
Bonus Bucks Doubles SNAP/EBT Benefits
The market accepts cash/check, credit/debit, SNAP/EBT, and Bonus Bucks. Farm Fresh RI’s Bonus Bucks nutrition incentives program provides an additional 100% bonus for customers using EBT—to increase access to fresh fruits and veggies for low-income individuals receiving federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. That means for every $1 spent with SNAP at the farmers market, shoppers receive a FREE $1 in Bonus Bucks tokens to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables.
Farm Fresh Rhode Island has been selected to participate in the Newman’s Own Foundation Challenge for #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities, and organizations to encourage philanthropy and celebrate generosity worldwide.