Earlier than ever, the farmers market on Downtown's Market Square opens tomorrow, with three new vendors and a headquarters tent.

"People kept asking the beat cop, 'When does it open?' " says Katie Zawrotniak, program and events manager and "market queen" for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, which organizes the market.

It's been so popular, in fact, the partnership in recent years has extended it from 20 weeks when it started in 2005 to more than 30 weeks..

The market will open this year a half hour earlier, too -- at 10 a.m. -- and runs to 2 p.m. Thursdays through at least mid-December.

It has lost Mung Dynasty, which provided lunchtime shoppers with wraps and salads made with sprouts. But it has gained Billy's Country Smokehouse, a maker of smoked meats in Hempfield, Westmoreland County, and Callifonte Foods, a Vandergrift, Westmoreland County, maker of Fontana-brand pastas and sauces.

Also new this season is Right By Nature, the Strip District natural foods grocery, which is sponsoring the market this year. Ms. Zawrotniak says the store will share its space with some of its local suppliers, who will offer their own wares.

The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership also will staff a "management tent," along with the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture.

The new attractions will join the regulars from last season:

• Harvest Valley Farms, selling 50-plus types of produce

• Sand Hill Berries and Greendance Winery's fresh berries, jams, pies, and berry wines

• Cinco de Mayo salsas and prepared vegetables

• Ridgeview Acres Farm fresh flowers

• Evelyn's Elegant Edibles seasonings and rubs

• Rise Above Bakery breads, rolls and pastries

• Gosia's Pierogies

• Little Athens Greek foods

Billy's Country Smokehouse was started decades ago when the late Billy Kocevar made kolbassi in a converted icebox. He died 15 years ago, and now his daughter Shirley Stana runs his store, smoking and selling kolbassi, ham, beef and pork logs, sausage, hot dogs, pepper sticks, beef jerky and salmon.

Callifonte Foods, which opened in 1986, makes a wide range of pastas (sweet potato gnocchi) and sauces (alfredo, marinara) and sells other frozen products (wedding soup).

PDP spokeperson Hollie Geitner notes that market visitors can get moving to live music when Thursday noon concerts start in June 4. They'll run through July 23.

Bob Batz Jr. can be reached at bbatz@post-gazette.com and 412-263-1930.