NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- After 15 years on Church and 26th Streets, Norfolk's only year-round farmer's market closed for good on Sunday evening.
The Five Points Community Farm Market was one of the few local spots in the Norfolk neighborhood that sold fresh produce. Throughout the day Sunday, local musicians performed on the store's final day,
"I think this is how we do it. When we say goodbye, we say it with music and we say hello with music. We say everything with music," said Brian Bodnar who jammed with other musicians.
According to people who work at the market, a lack of funding and community support are the reasons why it had to close.
State Delegate Daun Sessoms Hester said it was a sad day for Norfolk, as she stated how the community benefited from the market,
"This helps our farmers in Virginia, our children, and it helped with a piece of the food desert in the city of Norfolk. We've been able to take fresh food to them because of the partnerships that we've had, so we have families and children who are now eating vegetables, cooking vegetables that they haven't before," said Hester.
Vendors like Rhonda Flores sold organic coconut butter products in the market, and she explained how the market helped business people like her: "Well, it helps us to make it affordable for us to have a space, so people can become familiar with our businesses and products."
In the meantime there is no word if another market in Norfolk will open in the future.
"For the number of people who have been here since we announced on Wednesday we were closing, if they had been coming all along, we would still be open," said Hester. "We would be able to pay the bills."