The Keady Market grew up around Kuhl's Livestock Auctions in Keady. The Kuhl's have a cattle auction every Tuesday, so what could be more logical than having a farmer's market in the field behind the auction arena?
Initially that meant a few locals fobbing off the surplus from their kitchen gardens. But it's grown like topsy! They got well over two hundred vendors now. If it wasn't for toilet paper and beer, you really wouldn't have to shop anywhere else!
Want a new watch? You can find an authentic-looking counterfeit of a famous Swiss brand for twenty bucks. Ditto for designer sunglasses.
How about a crossbow? Cherry-flavoured popcorn? Cannabis-oil balm to rub on your aching feet?...
Or maybe you've had your eye on a Dixie flag to hang in your rec-room? No problem! Found two vendors happy to oblige, one of them being a native woman. They're getting hard to find since the forces of political correctitude rendered them a symbol of white supremacy. Around here they're just a symbol of Dukes of Hazzard and Lynyrd Skynryd.
It's still a livestock auction at heart. You can buy a single cattle-beast or a whole herd of heifers. In the main sales arena guys with manure on their boots spend hundreds of thousands replenishing their inventory.
The Keady Market has become something of a regional tourist draw. Me and the Farm Manager try to visit at least once a year. The FM found the perfect belt holster for her iPhone today.
The crowd is a very diverse bag, from farmers to local townfolks to day-trippers from the city. I saw at least three different clans of Amish women in attendance; black, white, and blue-bonnets, each of which fervently believe that their bonnet style is most pleasing to the Lord.
There's also lots of aging hippie-types, grey-beard bikers, and tattooed hotties in too-short denim cut-offs and cowboy boots. It would be my kinda place if you could score a cold beer somewhere on the premises.
All in all, well worth the visit, but be forewarned; only a few of the vendors have interac, and the onsite cash dispenser wasn't dispensing cash today. Best to top off your wallet before you go.
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