What happened
Katy Market Day, a semi-monthly market showcasing local vendors, food and drinks, had its last event Dec. 7 after a 30-year run, market co-founder and local business owner Betsy Proctor said.
The market’s end comes after her application to close downtown streets for her 2025 markets wasn’t considered on Katy City Council's agenda, Proctor said. The market ran monthly from March to November, with a special Christmas event in December.
“Basically what they're saying is they're not going to put my request to close the streets on the agenda; therefore, I can't have the market,” she said.
The details
The change is reportedly due to city staff wanting to to limit downtown events to only be those managed by the city, Proctor claims. This comes following the city’s multimillion-dollar effort to improve downtown Katy and attract tourism.
Katy city officials didn’t respond to requests for comment or questions about Katy Market Day.
To allow her event to continue, Proctor claimed city officials made an offer this summer to take over ownership of Katy Market Day in 2026. The contract included:
- $15,000 to be paid to Proctor
- Proctor must give the city access to the vendor list
- Proctor would co-run the market through 2025 to aid in the transition
- The city would take over management of the market in 2026 with the trade name, logo and social media accounts
“It wasn't functional; I couldn't function under what they wanted me to do and then hand them everything at the end of the year,” she said of the contract.
The backstory
Proctor said Katy Market Day began roughly 30 years ago in a downtown parking lot, growing over time to a point where she began requesting the city close multiple streets to increase safety for the pedestrian shoppers.
The market was founded with the goal of bringing more traffic to downtown Katy to support local businesses, including the antique shop she runs with her husband, called Limited Edition Art & Antiques, Proctor said.
“The reason I did the market to begin with was because downtown Katy, where my shop is, was completely dead. Nobody even knew we existed,” she said. “The market was basically done to attract attention into town.”
Some community members pushed back against news about the market.
A Change.org petition that aimed to keep the event in downtown Katy under its current management has gained more than 2,200 signatures. According to Change.org, 65% of signatures come from ZIP codes 77494, 77493 and 77449 in the Katy area.
Zooming out
The city of Katy has completed more than $7.67 million of improvements to downtown Katy in an effort to revitalize the area, said Kaci Maris, Katy’s tourism and marketing event coordinator.
“The point of everything that we’re doing is to bring people to the downtown area,” she said. “Not only do we want our locals finding us and seeing all that we have to offer downtown but coming back, and then ... the word getting out to everybody else in surrounding areas about what it is that we've got going on downtown.”
Projects in the town square, between Avenues B and C, have included:
- Green space
- Landscaping
- Murals
- A removable stage for events
Another $952,370 project will build the new permanent interactive exhibit at the future Katy Visitor Center, located at 5718 Second St., Community Impact reported. Maris said the center should open in 2025.
Looking ahead
Maris declined to comment on whether Katy staff plan to launch a city-run market in the future. However, she said her team has various events planned for 2025 to continue attracting visitors to downtown, such as monthly themed events in the square and some future changes to the annual Katy Rice Harvest Festival.
Despite Katy Market Day’s departure, Proctor said her goal is still to continue supporting Katy’s businesses with smaller events, such as ladies’ night and a sidewalk art walk. She said she hopes shoppers support the city of Katy’s future events.
“I really sincerely hope that the city is successful and their events are successful, because that helps all of us [downtown businesses],” she said.
