It was an announcement that many were hoping for.

When the provincial government announced that farmers' markets were to be allowed to open in phase two of Saskatchewan's reopening plan, residents were hopeful that an announcement regarding Swift Current's annual Market Square would not be too far away.

And they weren't disappointed, with the press release dropping on May 14 that the market will open on time and as scheduled on Saturday, June 13, 2020, but clearly with some restrictions due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Swift Current Online reached out to Tim Marcus, the chief administrative officer with the city to discuss the changes that were needed and the challenges of enforcing social distancing in an open-air environment.

He said that most of the precautions are all about lines.

There will be lines to wash hands before entering the market, lines for people to enter the tent itself, and lines to move from vendor to vendor.

The lines will be organized by volunteers from the city, and Marcus believes that between those volunteers and the appropriate signage, that will be all the enforcement required.

"Well, we'll have all the signage up that promotes (social distancing) just like a province has, and we'll ask anybody that has any of the symptoms to leave if they show up. But to date I would have to say that based on all of the other restrictions that have been in place, everybody has been very respectful and we wouldn't expect anything different going forward with the market."

The city, he says, is taking the cautious approach to reopening the market, as is to be expected.

Vendors are only selling products or items, as well as meals that have been pre-prepared and sealed, intended to be consumed elsewhere.

"For now we're not allowing the vendors that...I'll call them 'traditional food vendors' that were selling meals that people were consuming on-site. We'll see how we go the first couple of weeks and then we'll look at adding services like that, albeit under the current regulations."

A part of that is to discourage social gatherings. Limiting food to off-site eating only, removing seating and play areas for children, and foregoing live music and entertainment is all an attempt to stay in line with social gathering limits, which, as of June 13, will limit any outdoor area to 30 people or less under phase 3 or the province's reopening plan.

The challenge of organizing and staying safe in a social gathering during COVID-19 is one that Marcus is hopeful that residents can help with themselves, by spacing out their arrival at the market. While there will be chalk-marks every 2-metres, lining up waiting customers up along First Avenue, he hopes that there is not a mass of people immediately at opening.

"We're hoping that not everybody shows up when the market opens. The markets open for I think a period of four or five hours and we're hoping that people will time their arrival there so that not everybody shows up the minute it opens."

The hours for Market Square will initially be reduced, running on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m to 1:00 p.m.