The Pike County Chamber of Commerce and the City of Troy are bringing back the Downtown Fall Market for three Saturdays over the upcoming fall season.

The first market will open Saturday, October 7, and have two more markets on November 4 and December 2.

Jeff McDurmont, who crafts bath and body items locally, said the market offers a great place to interact with the community and other vendors.

“When just started last year and by the end of the season, it was kind of like a little market family,” McDurmont said. “You knew the rest of the vendors that were going to be there and you were excited to see what new things they brought. It’s like a community inside small-town Troy. It’s a great way to meet new people.”

McDurmont said markets like these are one of the few ways to sell specialty homemade products like his and it takes an understanding of the market to prepare adequately.

“I don’t start making the items for the show until a week and a half in advance of the show,” McDurmont said. “It’s time-consuming, but it’s something I enjoy. When I first started I made way too much one week. You’ve got to project what you’re going to use and, you know, sometimes you run out but you can have that customer come back to the next market or make a custom order.”

McDurmont said his lineup is entirely handmade and made fresh for each market, which is one of the benefits of the market as a whole.

“It’s not made by some machine or a press that mainstream companies use to knock them out at a fast pace. What the people are getting from me are the freshest items they can have.”

Leigh Anne Windham with the City of Troy said that the downtown market is different from the Pike County Farmer’s Market, which is held every Saturday morning on the Square.

The farmer’s market will still be there, but will be joined by other vendors including artisans and craftsmen like McDurmont.

Anyone interested in being a vendor at any of the markets can contact Windham at 674-2468 for more information.