Boston Public Market Harvest Party: A Carnival of Community

Haystacks, wheelbarrows, and colorful leaves adorned Boston Public Market on Oct. 17 in celebration of their seventh annual Harvest Party. Vendors scattered around the venue, offering everything from ice cream to custom-scented candles. Attendees danced to live music, posed for photos next to giant pumpkins, and sampled a plethora of food and drink options.

“It’s really a team effort,” Chelsea Doliner, chief marketing and engagement officer for the Boston Public Market Association, said. “We have an outstanding team and an outstanding group of vendors.”

The party featured vendor Laurel Greenfield Art, a retail painting studio by Laurel Greenfield selling art “made for the colorful modern home.

“It’s been an amazing opportunity to reach new people,” Greenfield said. “Especially downtown, where I’m able to reach local people, but also people visiting from other cities.”

“I just love how involved all of the owners of each business really are. These are all truly local businesses,” Greenfield said.

The extensive partnerships the Market has with sponsors also bring new faces to the Harvest Party Bash.

“It’s just bringing the community together,” said Emily McGrail, the youth education program manager for one of the event’s sponsors, the Red Sox Foundation.

The Harvest Bash showcases the vibrant Greater Boston community, with live music from local band Fuller and Friends. The buzz of dancing and laughing could be heard from all corners of the Market as people tried out everything the Market had to offer. Before doors had even opened at 7 p.m., there was a sizable line outside 100 Hanover Street — a few people even crowded around just to see what the excitement was.

To add to its popularity, the Boston Public Market also contributes to a great cause.

“The Boston Public Market is such a great organization to promote healthy foods and foods in our neighborhood,” said Eve Boujolly, the Red Sox Foundation education coordinator.

Tickets for the Boston Public Market Harvest Bash go directly to the Market’s Community Engagement Fund, which provides free food education programs for children. There was also a silent auction running to generate more proceeds for the fund.

However, the Community Engagement Fund is just one way the Boston Public Market contributes to the community. The Market has other initiatives to reach more members of the community.

“Our whole mission is about bringing the community together around food,” Doliner said. “We also do things like our Entrepreneurship Forum, powered by Citizens, which gives BIPOC and women-owned businesses an opportunity to come into the market free of charge.”

The event also serves as a way to raise awareness about the existence of a public market alternative to supermarkets or big-box stores.

“It’s really about bringing people into the market, helping them fall in love with it and fall in love with our vendors, and hopefully, they’ll return for shopping,” Doliner said.

The Boston Public Market is a relatively new one. It opened its doors in July 2015, but only after advocacy work from the Boston Public Market Foundation that began in 2001. While the Harvest Bash is an important event for the Boston Public Market, it only serves as a reminder of the services and community building offered at the Boston Public Market — a yearlong event for the Boston community.