Alleyways Market: Winnipeggers meet to shop local in the Exchange

Artisanal bread, locally-made jewelryand snacks of all descriptions were on offer at this year's first Alleyways Market on Friday.

Starting at 4 p.m., dozens of shoppers and nearly 60 vendors met in an alley in Winnipeg's Exchange District for the first of four markets to be held this summer.

"It's nice to have a night market downtown," said Colin Enquist. He's the sales and marketing manager for PEGBeer Company, which was a vendor at Friday's market.

"There's not a lot of places to buy food and stuff like that downtown, so if you live downtown it's nice and easy to come and do your grocery shopping and get a lot of things from the local farmers and local food suppliers," Enquist said.

Early in the evening the market saw a steady stream of foot traffic, Enquist said.

"It's been a gorgeous day for it. Nice and hot and warm," he said. "There's been a lot of people coming through."

Dionne Friesen was at the market and said she appreciated the chance to shop while helping out small business in the community.

"We love supporting local," she said. "We love how Winnipeg comes together and all the small shops and it's not just small shops, but they actually have quality stuff."

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The event is set to take place three more times this summer, on July 7, Aug. 4 and Sept. 1.

You can find it in the back lane on Elgin Avenue between Lily and Bertha Streets.