Wildsight Kimberley-Cranbrook announced last week that they had hired Sparta Humphreys as the new coordinator for the Kimberley Farmers' Market. The Bulletin reached out to Humphreys to learn more about her background, her experience in Kimberley so far and her vision for the Kimberley Farmers' Market.
"I’m not trying to revolutionize the whole market, it’s sticking to what’s been working and then finding incremental ways that I can increase the capacity but also the access to people and just make it a much more social situation," Humphreys said.
Originally from Quebec, Humphreys and her partner moved to Kimberley this past September after living out west for around 10 years. The COVID pandemic hit while they were on a two-year motorcycle journey through the Americas, which changed their plans a bit, so they decided to come back to Canada.
They had loved Kimberley when they had travelled through here in the past and had tried to move here in 2021, but there were no available places to live. Oddly enough, they found an apartment in Canmore — a place not exactly known for its plentiful vacant apartments.
They lived in Canmore for three years, but still hoped to move to Kimberley. They started looking for a place this past spring and managed to secure one, finally moving here in September.
"We are so happy to be here, we love it," Humphreys said. "We’re from Quebec originally and Quebec has a very social vibe and we were struggling out west and Kimberley just has this other vibe — people are so friendly, they talk to you, people seem to just be stoked on life too which is just so nice.
"People are in good moods and for me, I’ve worked for community groups for a long time and so community involvement is really important to me, so just seeing how much people seem to be involved here too was kind of a game changer."
She added that during the time they were looking at places from the spring until they found one in September, they made more friends than during the entire time they lived in Canmore.
"We made friends here before we even moved here, so I think that homey, community vibe is what attracted us and it has delivered ever since," she said. "We’ve met so many people and people are just so excited and I think that just conveys really nicely with us."
In addition to the community spirit of Kimberley, Humphreys and her partner have also enjoyed the environment the city has to offer, as they both mountain bike, snowboard and ride their motorcycles off road.
For the past 10 years, Humphreys has been working in events, starting in Vancouver and for the past two years working for the Town of Banff as Event Specialist. She worked as their major events producer and would do all the permitting for major events and for films that were shot in the area.
"I really enjoyed that municipality side and it gave me a lot of information that I didn’t have before," she said.
Moving to Kimberley, she said it was important to her and her partner — a computer software engineer — that one of them be involved in the community and work locally in Kimberley. She was focused on seeking Kimberley-centric contracts and Wildsight was one of the organizations she had in mind.
"They really tick off a lot of my boxes of values and priorities, so I kept an eye on that and then I saw the Farmers’ Market opportunity pop up," she said. "To me, it just seemed like the perfect fit because, A. it was with Wildsight and got my foot in the door with that organization and B. I love Farmers’ Markets, I’ve been attending them for forever, ever since I was young."
She said that during her travels, she always seeks out local markets, as they're a place where you can find the "pulse of the community" while also getting to shop for locally made products and produce.
"As much as I loved my work at the town of Banff, I was ready to be a little bit more in the field and talking to people and interacting with the community," she said.
"This felt like such a perfect way for me to introduce myself to the community, to give back to the community and just get my foot in the door with an organization that’s interesting and try to do what I can to make people’s summer a lot nicer. So with the Farmers’ Market I just could not have asked for a better opportunity, I was really excited."
Since accepting the coordinator position, Humphreys has been working on getting up to speed on how Kimberley's market functions, preparing for registration opening, meeting with The City of Kimberley, the Chamber of Commerce, Interior Health and various local businesses, while also preparing for a market season that may look different considering the uncertainty with the United States.
"Obviously with everything that’s going on with the U.S. and the tariffs and the push that we’re feeling for buying local, Canadian made, we’re expecting to have a really busy market season this year," Humphreys explained. "Tourism is likely going to be much higher, because less people are going to be going to the States, so we’re anticipating quite a different market season."
Since registration opened about a month ago, Humphreys said they have about 24 vendors who have applied, with around half of those signed up for the full season. There are a few new exciting vendors this year, including The Old Bauernhaus Restaurant, who will be bringing restaurant-made sausages, mustards, pickles and much more.
Another thing Humphreys has been working on is a push for more local produce and more local business involvement. In looking at vendor guidelines for past years, she discovered a rule that stated if someone had a business within 15 kilometres of the market, they weren't allowed to participate in it.
"Although the people that are in place right now weren’t there historically when this rule was put in, what I figured out is that it’s likely from back in the day when the market was extremely popular and there were too many applicants for the amount of spaces," she explained. "I think they made the decision to try to give a chance to people who weren’t centrally located in Kimberley to have essentially a vendor front for the market."
They've decided to remove that rule to increase participation in the market, getting it back up to pre-COVID levels.
She has been meeting with the Chamber of Commerce to advertise to all local businesses to try and increase involvement. Important to note is that vendors do not need to commit to all 14 2025 markets, they can do as many or as few as works best for them.
She's also been working to develop adult activities, such as knitting workshops, or crib nights, in addition to the kids' activities that have been hosted at the market for years. This would also include workshops where people can come sit down and learn about topics such as food sustainability.
Another challenge she's been trying to figure out is how she can increase shade and cool down Howard Street.
"Last year there was a group of vendors that approached Wildsight asking to move the location of the market to somewhere they felt was a little bit more convenient to try to increase shade and parking and all these things," Humphreys said. "But the reality is, in town there’s not really that perfect place to have something. There’s always pros and cons and challenges in all these places."
This year they have decided to stay on Howard Street, but Humphreys said she will be looking at throughout the summer, considering if other locations make sense, but focusing on how she can improve the shade element and accessibility at the existing location.
If you are interested in learning more, registering as a vendor or are curious about leading a workshop or activity, you are encouraged to contact Humphreys at kimberleyfarmersmarket@wildsight.ca
Stay tuned for updates on this year's market season at facebook.com/kimberleyfarmersmarket and wildsight.ca/events/kfm2025
