Pepper Place Saturday Market, a place for local farmers and food entrepreneurs to showcase their products, begins its expanded season with some new sounds. Pepper Place Saturday Market opened April 16 with a small area for farmers selling fresh strawberries, plus a few other vendors in the garden parking lot at the corner of 28th Street and Third Avenue South. The market begins its expanded season through Oct. 8 with 80 vendors showcasing their fresh vegetables, jewelry, artwork and music, spread out to other areas around Pepper Place, said Lisa Beasley, the market manager for Pepper Place. The market is open each Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon, rain or shine. After Oct. 8 the market will continue opening each Saturday to Dec. 17 with about half the number of vendors, Beasley said.The market, now in its 12th year, has traditionally had musicians. But this year the market will be an official venue for the Year of Alabama Music. In addition to some of the market’s traditional musicians, including Mike Hipp, Grover Cleveland, and Fiddlin’ in the Parlor, there will be musicians making their first-ever appearances, market officials said. The market is collaborating with Birmingham Arts and Music to bring Kurt Jenkins, Josh Vasa, Rick Carter and Jon Poor to the Front Porch Stage. Also, the market is working with Birmingham’s Grey Haven Music Community to bring their musicians to the 29th Street Stage. Also new to the Pepper Place stage are Birmingham’s RAW Jazz Trio, Montevallo’s Horses, As Is and the traditional Irish group, The Vulcan Eejits.

One goal of the market is to support the local farming system in Alabama and bring fresh locally grown produce to people in the Birmingham area, Beasley said. “We also want to support our local artists and musicians,” she said. “We have a diverse culture here in Birmingham. … We enjoy bringing those folks out and sharing their talents with the community,” Beasley said. A lot of producers make foods such as salsa, mustard, and cookies to sell at the market, Beasley said. Some are start-up companies looking to expand into supermarkets, she said. “It’s fun to see them start up their business and grow,” Beasley said. Among the new vendors who will participate this summer are an artisan bread company from Huntsville and, in about a month or so, a farmer from north Alabama who will sell mushrooms grown in a greenhouse, Beasley said. As in years past, local chefs will be holding a cooking demonstration at 9 a.m. each Saturday through September 3 at the back porch near 29th Street South.