QUINCY — Quincy Farmers Market opened for the season Saturday with relatively high attendance and selection of vendors in a prime location after organizers navigated a number of obstacles presented by COVID-19 restrictions.

The market wasn’t able to open in Lauzier Park as it normally would, as city parks remained closed to public use, said Chelsea Putnam, market manager and co-president of the farmers market.

“We had many discussions with the mayor and the council and all sorts, and it came down to, they didn’t want to be hypocritical closing it to the public but not the farmers market,” Putnam said.

For various other reasons, some unrelated to the pandemic, other sites also wouldn’t accept the market on their properties, she added. The market was originally scheduled to open June 6, but though almost 20 vendors had asked about opening booths, relatively high for the beginning of the season, no site had been found to host the market.

“But we really, really pushed it because people are craving something to do,” Putnam said.

Shortly before the market was supposed to open, a coordinator with Quincy Valley Historical Society and Museum suggested that location, situated along the main road through town.

“It was a major hit,” Putnam said.

Though the market had to be postponed until June 20, as organizers wanted more time to plan around the new site, the diversity of vendors and high foot traffic made it a success, Putnam said.

The 16 vendors had to be situated six feet apart, punctuated with a number of hand washing stations and signs from the health district cautioning attendees about the virus. But the added measures didn’t keep attendees from coming in numbers usually only seen later in the season, about 40 new attendees per hour, Putnam said.

The Quincy Farmers Market also opted to allow craft vendors to set up booths, which many other markets had declined to do, she added. Until recently, she noted, the state had only permitted vendors to sell their products at farmers markets if they qualified as “essential” services, such as selling food or health care related products.

The state later changed that restriction to a recommendation, leaving it up to the individual market’s discretion, Putnam said.

The decision allowed vendors to set up at the Quincy market that sell products like pottery, hand-embroidered dish towels and hand-crafted jewelry, in addition to a variety of produce, baked goods and snacks.

Some staples of the market still aren’t allowed yet, Putnam added, including live entertainment. The market often features a variety of acts, including live music and dancers. But such activities won’t be allowed until Grant County reaches Phase 4, Putnam said, due to concerns that performances could draw crowds of people standing closely to each other.

The rules haven’t always been clear, either, Putnam added, saying that there hasn’t always been a firm set of expectations for farmers markets. Ultimately, she said the market had looked to the state Department of Health and the county health district for guidance.

Though Putnam said that there had been more hoops to jump through than expected, she feels good about the market that she had put together with fellow co-president Micaiah McCreary, who also manages the market’s social media and advertising.

“It feels surreal, and it’s unfortunate and confusing,” Putnam said. “Really, we just buckled down and still tried to provide something for the public to do, and we’re not as fearful as maybe some other areas of the state, where they’ve closed the market for the season.”