Last year’s arts-centric market in Monument Square is returning in June, to be held on Fridays this year. Photo by Cary Tyson

The summer open marketplace organized by Portland Downtown will return to Monument Square for a second season in June.

Portland Downtown Executive Director Cary Tyson said the arts-based market, officially called Monument(al) Market in the Square, will launch again this year on June 2. The market will run Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through September, Tyson said.

Last year’s marketplace at Monument Square was held on Thursdays and started in May. Tyson said the event coordinators chose to start later this year and run the market on Fridays to take advantage of better weather and more foot traffic from tourists.

“Post-Memorial Day, we tend to get a bigger crowd, so we wanted to launch it then to kick it off strongly,” Tyson said.

The market again will feature about a dozen makers, artists and other vendors, though not food producers, to ensure that it doesn’t compete with the many food-based businesses in the district, such as the multiple food stalls at the Public Market House.

“With Monument(al) Market, we’re activating the space, bringing folks outside to shop in the local economy to support our local artist community,” Tyson said. “Last year, our local businesses really appreciated it, and our vendors loved the additional opportunity to sell their wares.”

Portland Downtown is a nonprofit downtown-improvement organization funded through downtown district property taxes. To apply to be vendor, go to portlandmaine.com/monumentalmarket.