Black Mountain Tailgate Market brings community together for 31st year

Spring Harvest Festival to celebrate opening of 2025 spring season

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
May 2, 2025

The Black Mountain Tailgate Market, which includes more than 70 vendors, is returning, May 3, for its 31st year. Photo courtesy of Kiersten Hall

To a casual observer, the weekly gathering on a grassy field along First Street, behind the First Baptist Church Black Mountain, offers a glimpse into the diverse array of plants, produce, proteins and artisanal wares originating from the Swannanoa Valley.

Yet, as the Black Mountain Tailgate Market hosts its Spring Harvest Festival from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., Saturday, May 3, the newly established nonprofit organization is celebrating the community that has long sustained it.

More than 71 vendors, including young entrepreneurs from Owen Middle School, will be represented, as the market returns for its 31st year, kicking off its main season. The event will feature live music by the Perry Wing Band and a range of community-based organizations.

This season marks a significant milestone for the BMTM, according to market manager Jacqueline Smith, in her third year in the position.

“I was brought on in September of 2022, and I engaged with our member vendors and the board, at the time,” she said. “As we discussed their vision for the market, the more I engaged with the vendors the more I understood where they wanted to see this market go in the future.”

As that feedback coalesced into a collective vision, the path forward became clear, Smith continued.

“We began discussing a possible move to federal 501(c)(3) status, and what the potential benefits might be,” she said. “After a lot of discussion and some market changes and expansions, we secured the help of Pisgah Legal Services to help navigate the nonprofit process.”

The BMTM, which began in 1994 as a small offering of produce outside of the town hall at the time, was officially recognized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in April. The move was accompanied by a new leadership structure that includes a community-led board of directors that is informed by an advisory board of member vendors.

“It feels like progress, because this has been two years of work, changes on the board and all of us considering as many things from as many perspectives as possible,” Smith said. “This is what we needed to do to build a robust organization that thrives for years to come.”

The market, which will be held every Saturday through Nov. 22, is a reflection the community it serves, according to the manager.

The Friends of the Black Mountain Tailgate Market, a new initiative that supports the infrastructure of the local nonprofit organization, offers locally made tumblers to individuals who donate $60 or more to the market. Photo courtesy of BMTM

“We really want to find the best ways we can serve and respond to the immediate needs of this community,” Smith said. “It’s not just nutrition and access to extremely fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables who come from local people, it’s also about building community.”

The organization has expanded its outreach in recent years to collaborate with community-based organizations like BearWise, Black Mountain Girl Scout Troop 02498, Laps & Naps and the White Horse.

“Increasing our involvement with community organizations brings families out to the market,” Smith said. “We’re fortunate to have a diverse collection of nonprofit organizations doing great things in WNC, and right here in the Swannanoa Valley, so we love having the opportunity to bring a rotating cast of them out to the market every week. Even if you’re not there to buy anything, you can come learn about our community.”

The Spring Harvest Festival will feature local middle school students who have participated in a financial literacy study, in which they learned about investments, capital, loans and interest, while developing an understanding of the local economy. The program culminated in students partnering to create their own products, which will be available at the market.

The event will feature title sponsors Wellspring Direct Primary Care and Mindful Wellness Space, and include the launch of an initiative intended to increase individual donations for additional programming and market infrastructure.

“We are introducing our Friends of the Black Mountain Tailgate Market, which allows individuals to donate $60 or up, and you receive a beautiful tumbler made by Liz Turvaville, who lives in Black Mountain and is the owner of RepTile and Curled Tail Pottery,” Smith said. “She is also doing a live pottery demonstration.”

While the nonprofit organization continues to expand its programming, the market is also increasing access to local healthy food for consumers in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. BMTM began accepting Electronic Benefit Transfer cards in 2023 and the number of related transactions doubled last year.

Local growers, artisans and community organizations will return to the grassy field behind First Baptist Church Black Mountain, May 3, as the Black Mountain Tailgate Market returns for its 31st year. Photo courtesy of Kiersten Hall

A grant through the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project allows customers using an EBT card an opportunity to receive additional produce.

“ASAP is a wonderful organization that sponsors two of food access programs,” Smith said. “One of those is our double-up on fruits and vegetables program, where we process EBT transactions by giving customers tokens that can be used to purchase meat, fruit, vegetables and food-producing plants. The grant through ASAP lets us double those transactions, up to $20, for the purchase of additional fruits and vegetables.”

The Produce Prescription program, also sponsored by ASAP, accepts prescriptions from doctors for fresh fruits and vegetables, while the market fills them.

A primary focus of the BMTM, however, continues to be quality food produced by local growers and farmers.

“Knowing the people who grow and raise your food creates a ripple effect,” Smith said. “It stands apart from any grocery store experience because it’s so multi-faceted. We have live music every week and the sights of all these flowers, vegetables and hand-made crafts. There is so much to do.”

As the market and its growing number of member vendors, day vendors, community collaborators and sponsors celebrate its annual return, the tradition remains “locally grown and community cultivated,” she continued.

“At 11:55 a.m., right before we close, all of the children will line up with sunflowers we are making out of paper plates and parade through the market, led by some of our board members and community members. We’ve done this in the past, and it’s a precious experience because it’s a beautiful way to encapsulate the vitality and youthfulness of the market,” Smith said. “It really focuses on who this market is supposed to serve in the long-term, and that’s such a big part of the sustainable regenerative agriculture. Look always at the future and how we can nourish our community and cultivate generations of happy healthy people.”