Street Eats Market open Labour Day weekend after storm damages Hamilton site

Street Eats Market is moving ahead with its Labour Day weekend festival in Hamilton after a powerful storm damaged the site earlier this week.

Street Eats Market is moving ahead with its Labour Day weekend festival in Hamilton after a powerful storm damaged the site earlier this week.

The powerful storm that swept through Southern Ontario on Sept. 2 also clobbered the 75,000-square-foot outdoor market in Hamilton. Tents were flipped, lights and banners were torn down, and vendor equipment was scattered across the site.

“The extent of the damage was quite catastrophic. Actually, three-quarters of the market was destroyed … come in the morning when we saw that,” said Philip Suos, CEO and founder of Street Eats Market.

Suos says about 10 structures were damaged, with losses estimated between $10,000 and $20,000. Cancelling this weekend was on the table.

“We did consider cancelling, but we received a lot of support from the community … We just really wanted to put this on and make sure that, first and foremost, everybody was safe,” Suos said.

With Labour Day weekend here, losing this weekend was not an option. By Thursday morning, the cleanup had already turned into a rebuild.

“The very next morning we were out here. Pretty much haven’t stopped,” said Scottie Ryerson, a staff member at Street Eats.

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What the wind took down, crews have spent the last two days putting back up. You can still see some of the damage left behind by this week’s storm. But with Street Eats Market on their fourth weekend, organizers and vendors are not packing up — they are rebuilding and getting ready to welcome back everyone this weekend.

For the small businesses that have set up here since mid-August, there is more than equipment riding on the rebuild.

“You have a lot put in and a lot riding on each weekend,” said David Rochon of Canokie Foods.

Rochon’s booth was flipped, damaging fryers and other equipment. But with Labour Day weekend here, he is back too.

“I’m from Hamilton. I usually do stuff in Toronto. I prefer Hamilton — better community. People really rally behind you here,” Rochon said.

Three days after the storm, the sign is back up and the tables are back in place.

“I think they did a remarkable job in how quick they did it, actually. They’ve worked pretty hard to get it fixed,” said Hamilton resident Milan Minich.

Street Eats Market opens for the Labour Day weekend Saturday and Sunday, with an extra day Monday, and weekends at CF Lime Ridge through Sept. 20.

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