When I learned that the Burlington Winter Farmers Market would be moving from the condemned Memorial Auditorium in downtown Burlington to the University of Vermont's Dudley H. Davis Center, I was skeptical that the new location would have the right vibe. My first visit to the market in its new location proved me wrong.

Memorial felt creaky and a bit cold, but the Davis Center — despite the sky-high ceiling in the atrium, manages to feel cozy.  Vendors are arrayed around the center of the space and down the corridors. The one problem from a shopping perspective is that when people have bulky jackets and grocery bags, it can be a little tough to squeak past them in the hallways.

Otherwise, shopping there was a pleasure. In early December, it was a thrill to find many kinds of greens, cranberry juice, duck eggs, warming meat pies and, most surprisingly, local white and brown rice, grown at Boundbrook Farm in Vergennes.  Market manager Chris Wagner is pleased with the UVM facilities, including the free parking and a loading dock that makes entry and egress easier for the producers. His one qualm is that, currently, alcohol vendors are not able to sell their wares. The market board is in discussions with the university in hopes of finding a way to allow the booze makers back in.  If they can't reach an agreement, he says, the market will need to move again next year. He hopes it won't come to that.

This weekend marks the last pre-holiday market, on Saturday, December 17, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The market will resume on January 14 and occur every two weeks thereafter until April 8.