Every Saturday during the summer.

We got something around here called the Peoria Riverfront Market.

Everybody loves it.

It's unanimous.

It's a summertime staple and it can't be argued.

But what a lot of people don't realize is once a winter, they move the whole thing indoors.

Same community, same makers and growers, same energy.

In this morning we're at the Peoria River Plex for the eighth annual Winter Riverfront Market.

About 70 local vendors, a couple thousand people are going to roll through here today, support and local boosts in our local economy.

And to me, that's a vibe.

So let's go down and check it out.

This market started about 23 years ago and it started very small and has grown year to year.

And I think one of the best things that we have seen is to watch the businesses succeed, whether it's by design, whether they start here as a vendor with the intention of opening a brick and mortar, or whether it's a hobby and that's turned into a business.

We've seen a lot of businesses get a lot of exposure at the market, which kind of propels them into the next step of their business, and it's been really fun to watch.

So I started doing this market over 20 years ago, about 20 years ago.

Just kind of learn how to get get my feet wet and get into it.

And so I've been doing the river for a market ever since then.

It's become a staple for my business.

Mike Tyson is not the only one who can get a face tattoo.

If you do in the Mike Tyson.

This market has grown.

I love the people here.

The vendors are like family.

We know each other.

We we talk amongst each other.

We support each other all the time.

It's an awesome it's an awesome market share in the market manager.

It's fantastic.

We're somewhat of a family down here.

We get to know each other throughout the summer.

Our customers come and get to know us and get to know the businesses, and it's really like just an opportunity to to get back together and have our shoppers come out and see us.

And we really appreciate that they support local.

We have the best community.

Like if it wasn't for the community, I don't know what I would have done because like, even I had a hard time last year and I let everybody know just recently.

And the amount of support and ou What does it mean to see the community come out and support your local business?

Your dream well helps pay the bills for sure, but it's something that we always strive to do to be successful and make a good go of it.

And and the community showed us that we're doing pretty good.

Try that one.

What's this one?

That's a golden, golden, golden.

It's mustard base.

That's my favorite.

All of them get five stars.

Thank you very much for that ball guys.

Check it out.

My dog loves your single ingredient dog treats.

Very good.

I ate one of them one time and didn't get sick.

So you can do that?

Yeah.

They're good.

Yeah.

This is the eighth year for the winter market.

We thought we would try it out.

We realized that there was a need or a want for people to get out during the winter months and see some of their friends and family and an opportunity to shop local.

And it's just grown ever since.

So we've kind of found a home.

We've we've jumped around a little bit here and there.

We found a home, hopefully at the River Plex, and we can fit 70 vendors in the river plex.

And we've got a couple outside and it's just seems to be growing every year.