New start on Holy Saturday morning for the Sunday Bazaar in River, after several months of “inactivity” and a total of two years of under-use, due to the coronavirus. But instead of the usual image of a bustling hive of activity, with producers, stalls and visitors crowding together in an “orgasmic” interaction, we found ourselves in front of a silent landscape, a “loose copy” of an institution that has flourished for four centuries in this corner of the island. But now it looks to the future with bewilderment.
Certainly, every beginning is difficult, as our wise people say. Moreover, the first day of reopening is not a Sunday but, exceptionally, a Saturday and even a Holy Saturday. However, the problem is not a lack of customers. On the contrary. The River and the Kythera in general, have been bustling with life in recent days. An endless stream of visitors have been escaping to the island for the holidays Easter. Proof of this, in all the adjacent cafes around the square, there was chaos on the morning of Holy Saturday. However, when producers are absent and there is such a shortage of products, inevitably the buying interest dwindles. We saw virtually no customers during our time there.
And the question, the question is relentless. «Is it their fault?» The sung-about Regulation of the Bazaar, has been published since July 2021 and almost 10 months later, they have been given, all of them, 6 licences to producers. The mayor, of course, for his part -and defending the decision for a regulatory framework- states that with this regulation, the Bazaar «was essentially preserved», while he is optimistic that eventually the 15 available seats will be filled with the remaining legal participation permits.
Given, of course, the long period between the publication of the Rules of Procedure and the first day of reopening, one could argue that we should normally have had a quorum. Which is a far cry from the picture we have seen. It is a given that farmers are numbed by the difficulties with precision and production costs, while the new framework seems to discourage many of the small producers who have traditionally been the lifeblood of the Bazaar.
Apart from all this, however, there is widespread concern that the new Regulation will “neuter” the institution from its traditional character and the Bazaar will fall into the status of a popular market of limited appeal.
The period that follows is expected to be particularly crucial for the future of an institution that has been loved and supported by Tsirigians throughout the centuries. It has been a hive of socialisation and practical support for the local producer. Since the end of March, the citizens have been oriented towards in a series of open dialogues to seek solutions for the optimal and most efficient operation of the Bazaar. Institutions and institutions, of all trends, shades and factions, must participate. The Bazaar must be preserved, reinvigorated and “handed over” to the Tsirigoi of the future, inextricably linked to its past.
