Seattle boasts a vibrant farmers market circuit that’s ramping up for the warmer months and we’re here to help you plan your course. If you’re looking to stock your larder, delight in tasty street foods or just commune with your neighbors, cast your line in any direction and you’ll find farmers, artisans and artists offering their wares in neighborhoods all around the city. The best part? Your kids may even eat a veggie or two! Read on for a breakdown of the city’s neighborhood farmers markets (both year-round and seasonal) by day.
photo: Matt Mornick courtesy of Pike Place Market PDA
WEDNESDAYS
Locals already well-versed in the city’s farmers market circuit will want to swing downtown for the Pike Place Evening Market, which promises 20 produce vendors plus live music and cooking demonstrations in the most picturesque of Seattle settings. Families take note: organizers have planned kid-friendly activities for the second Wednesday of every month. A bit further south, the Columbia City Farmers Market has been a bustling addition to the neighborhood for nearly 20 years. The music tent will be back again this year, giving kiddos a place to dance to local musicians. If you’re north of the ship canal and don’t want to make the trek south, Wallingford’s Farmers Market will again be set up in Meridian Park, making it the best ready-to-picnic market of the lot. Make a meal of the fresh produce, or grab a slice from Veraci Pizza to eat in the shade of the 100-year-old apple trees—kids can romp on the playground after.
Pike Place Evening Farmers Market
Pike Place at Pine St.
Seattle, Wa 98101
Online: pikeplacemarket.org/eveningmarket
Dates: Wednesdays, May 31-Sept. 27, 2017
Time: 3 p.m.-7 p.m.
Columbia City Farmers Market
South Edmunds St. & 37th Ave. S.
Seattle, Wa 98118
Online: seattlefarmersmarkets.org/markets/columbia-city
Dates: Wednesdays, May 3-Oct. 11, 2017
Time: 3 p.m.-7 p.m.
Wallingford Farmers Market
Meridian Park
4649 Sunnyside Ave. N.
Seattle, Wa 98103
Online: sfmamarkets.com/visit-wallingford-farmers-market
Dates: Wednesdays, May 17-Sept. 27, 2017
Time: 3:30 p.m.-7 p.m. (Chefs only 3 p.m.-3:30 p.m.)
photo: Kelly Doscher
THURSDAYS
There’s perhaps no farmers market so accommodating to kids as the Queen Anne Farmers Market. The selection of vendors is fairly small but well curated—with plenty of berries to fill tiny bellies—but the real draw is the impressive assortment of artisan foods and rotating roster of street food trucks like Biscuit Box, Nosh and The Grilled Cheese Experience. Go for your groceries, stay for dinner. Up north, the Lake City Farmers Market gives the neighborhood—which doesn’t have a predominantly organic grocery store—much-needed access to farm-fresh veggies. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, duck into the nearby Lake City library and peruse the children’s books.
Queen Anne Farmers Market
Crockett St. & Queen Anne Ave.
Seattle, Wa 98109
Online: qafma.net
Dates: Thursdays, June 1-Oct. 12, 2017
Time: 3 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Lake City Farmers Market
N.E. 125th St. & 28th Ave. N.E.
Seattle, Wa 98125
Online: seattlefarmersmarkets.org/markets/lake-city
Dates: Thursdays, June 8-Oct. 5, 2017
Time: 3 p.m.-7 p.m.
photo: Katie Gruver
FRIDAYS
The city’s newest farmers market is the Phinney Farmers Market, which was added to the lineup in 2007 and this year features later more convenient hours. It’s a petite setup in the neighborhood community center’s parking lot, but it’s big enough to pick up enough veggies for the week and grab an afternoon snack. Also, be sure to hit the Zucchini 500 Race on August 26 (3 p.m.–6 p.m., other dates and times at other markets can be found here) where kids can make and race their own veggie cars. Another parking lot market (hey, it means these both have actual places to park!) is Madrona’s Farmers Market, ironically in the Grocery Outlet lot. What it lacks in ambiance, it makes up for in convenience: This ‘hood, like Lake City, lacks grocery options, and this is a place to catch many of that same popular meat, produce and artisan food vendors from other markets in the city.
Phinney Farmers Market
Phinney Neighborhood Center (upper lot)
N. 67th St. & Phinney Ave. N.
Seattle, Wa 98103
Online: seattlefarmersmarkets.org/markets/phinney
Dates: Fridays, June 2-Oct. 6, 2017
Time: 3:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Madrona Farmers Market
Grocery Outlet parking lot
Martin Luther King Jr. Way & E. Union St.
Seattle, Wa 98122
Online: sfmamarkets.com/madrona-farmers-market
Dates: Fridays, May 19-Sept. 20, 2017
Time: 3 p.m.-7 p.m.
photo: Ellenos Real Greek Yogurt Facebook page
SATURDAYS
Folks flock to the University District on Saturdays for good reason: the U-District Farmers Market is one of the city’s most established, one of the few year-round markets and one of the best places to spend a Saturday morning. A few years ago, the market moved to the Ave., and now there’s even more space for the plentiful vendors and frolicking families. And though there are numerous options for lunch after shopping for locally sourced meat, bouquets of fresh flowers and farm-grown veggies, you must make room for a snack from Ellenos yogurt (try the passionfruit or one of the other flavors you can’t find in grocery stores). On a smaller scale across town, the Magnolia Farmers Market sets up shop right in the village, making it easy for customers to peruse the shops nearby as well. Can’t find a meal for everyone after shopping the market? Time your visit to coincide with a meal at Serendipity Cafe to take advantage of their kids’ play space (and killer brunch).
University District Farmers Market
University Way N.E. & N.E. 50th St.
Seattle, Wa 98105
Online: seattlefarmersmarkets.org/markets/u-district
Dates: Saturdays, year-round
Time: 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Magnolia Farmers Market
33rd Ave. W. & W. McGraw St.
Seattle, Wa 9819
Online: seattlefarmersmarkets.org/markets/magnolia
Dates: Saturdays year-round, except July 29, 2017
Time: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
photo: Kelly Doscher
SUNDAYS
The end of the week makes for the broadest variety of farmers markets, perfect for meal prepping the rest of the week. The West Seattle Farmers Market, Ballard Farmers Market and Capitol Hill Broadway Farmers Market are all year-round, and each have their own distinct vibe and loyal clientele. West Seattle and Ballard share many favorite market vendors—Hayton Farms Berries, Sea Breeze Farm, Alvarez Farms, Tall Grass Bakery and more—so it makes sense to stick with whichever market is closer to home. Both are extremely kid-friendly—so much so that you’ll have a hard time tearing the Littles away. Capitol Hill’s market setup along Broadway offers plenty of farm-fresh produce, and the ready-to-eat food there is among the best at any market (more than one awesome restaurant has been born out of these vendors!). Try Miri’s Poffertjes—tiny sweet and savory Dutch pancakes—and El Chito’s gourmet tamales. The year-round Fremont Sunday Market is a different kind of beast: part food truck pod, part farmers market, mostly flea market with some 200 vendors selling everything from vintage toys to pickles. It’s a little wacky, like the neighborhood itself, but kids—and their fun-loving adults—will absolutely love it.
West Seattle Farmers Market
California Ave. S.W. & S.W. Alaska St.
Seattle, Wa 98116
Online: seattlefarmersmarkets.org/markets/west-seattle
Dates: Sundays, year-round
Time: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Ballard Farmers Market
Ballard Ave. N.W. & 22 Ave. N.W.
Seattle, Wa 98107
Online: sfmamarkets.com/visit-ballard-farmers-market/
Dates: Sundays, year-round
Time: 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Capitol Hill Broadway Farmers Market
Broadway Ave. E. & E. Pine St.
Seattle, Wa 98122
Online: seattlefarmersmarkets.org/markets/broadway
Dates: Sundays, year-round
Time: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Fremont Sunday Market
3410 Evanston Ave. N.
Seattle, Wa 98103
Online: fremontmarket.com
Dates: Sundays, year-round
Times: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
photo: Pike Place Market PDA
Pike Place Market is Going West!
Coming this June 29, the Pike Place Market will be celebrating the Grand Opening of their newest addition, the MarketFront. 40 years in the making, the MarketFront’s day has finally come due to the impending replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the broader re-building of the waterfront. With its Western Ave. location bridging Seattle’s downtown to Elliott Bay, visitors will enjoy sweeping views of Mount Rainier and The Olympic Peninsula while they munch on market-fresh finds.
The expansion will provide nearly 50 new spaces for farm and craft vendors, and a new Producers Hall, which will feature Old Stove Brewing Co., Honest Biscuits, indi chocolate and Little Fish seafood restaurant. Add to that tons of new public art and 300 new parking spaces, and there’s no excuse not to head downtown to check it out!
Pike Place MarketFront
1531 Western Ave. (parking)
Seattle, Wa 98101
Online: pikeplacemarket.org/marketfront
Dates: Mon.-Sun., year-round
Times:
Breakfast: Starting at 6 a.m.
Fresh Produce & Seafood: Starting at 7 a.m.
Official Market Bell: 9 a.m.
Crafts Market: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Farm Tables: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Merchant Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Restaurants: 6 a.m.-1:30 a.m. (varies by season)
For a full listing of every farmers market in the area, check out Tilth Alliance.
Which farmers markets do you and your family frequent? Tell us what you love about buying local in the Comments below!
— Kelly Doscher, Chelsea Lin & Katie Gruver
