It’s a lazy Saturday, the weather is amazing and you are ready to go to the one and only Saturday market! You arrive at Raadhuisplein, and decide to take it easy by having a small coffee with a French croissant, and enjoy a nice walk in the park – it is the weekend after all. You catch up with friends, make small talk with others you were hoping not to bump into, and then move on to the heavy duty business: groceries. But wait, it’s almost lunch time, right? Might as well put the groceries on hold, again. What could be nicer than some Haring or Kebbeling and some nice cheese?
For students left behind in Wageningen during Covid times, the Saturday market has been the highlight of the week. If you want to have a slight chance at maintaining basic social skills in these strange times, it has become the place to be. And you’re not the only one that’s happy to be at the market: the retailers are happy to see you there too!
Have you ever stopped and wondered: how do the people from my favourite stall live the “market experience” and how did it change in the past year? In case you did wonder but you were too shy to ask, The Jester investigated for you! We interviewed retailers at different stalls, and will be sharing these with you every Saturday for the coming weeks!
STORIES FROM THE MARKET 1: RUISVIS
“Are you selling at the market on both Wednesdays and Saturdays?
I am here only on Wednesdays.
Have you noticed a change in the number of students coming and working at the market?
Before Corona, there were more students.
What about the other people coming to the market? Are they more interested in what you are selling?
They buy more, because they can’t go to the restaurants, they eat more home and they eat more fish I think or more expensive fish.
Is there something you would like to share about how the market developed during Corona?
My experience is that the market is much crowded, many more people come, because it is the only place they can go to.
Do you miss something of how things were before Corona at the market?
Before, we also used to have tables, so people were also eating here at our stall. Now it is not possible, because of Corona.“