Featuring locally grown or produced food and wares, community engagement, live music, and passionate people, the following farmers markets in Indiana are worth visiting.
Carmel Farmers Markets
Carmel, Indiana, has seen its farmers markets continue to grow and thrive for 26 years after being founded in 1998. The City of Carmel, while helpful, is not directly involved with the operations, which are managed by a board of volunteers and currently supported by IU Health – North Hospital as the presenting sponsor.
In fact, the Caramel Farmer Markets are two different operations. The summer market is located at 2 Carter Green, better known as the Center for the Performing Arts campus and the Palladium concert hall. Running from May 4 through Sept. 28, it is open every Saturday from 8 to 11:30 a.m. The summer market features 72 local vendors, and last year, it attracted a record number of people — more than 110,000. It seems that they all heeded the operation’s call to “Get Fresh on Saturday!”
The winter market is located at The Six Eleven at 611 3rd Ave. SW. This spot is a new location for the market, which used to be a block away at the former Woods Wire Manufacturing plant.
Although the operators said they would miss the “funkiness and historic manufacturing plant feel” and the Blue Bunnies painted by muralist Jules Muck, the new location has better access, parking, lighting, and more bathrooms.
Plus, the new location is being decorated with more bunnies “hopping from our old building to our new building,” as well as bees, butterflies, and flowers. The market still runs from Oct. 19 through March 29 and is open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Historically, it averages 35 vendors and about one-tenth the number of guests the summer market brings in.
Photo Courtesy Carmel Farmers Markets
However, the mission is universal: to “organize, produce and manage fun and exciting farmers markets for the residents of Carmel and the surrounding central Indiana area.” The vendors must live in Indiana and grow or produce agricultural products in the state, and no craft items are featured.
At both markets, food safety is paramount. Any food prepared off-site must occur in a kitchen inspected and certified by the County Health Department.
Food cannot be made in vendors’ homes. Plus, the board visits about three-fourths of the vendors at their farms or kitchens yearly to check their processes.
While live entertainment is limited at the winter market, local artists playing live music are a huge attraction in summer. Sponsors often show up to entertain, including Indy Biplanes, which conducted a flyover of the market for Father’s Day this year.
The weekly surprise celebrity bell ringer also adds a little intrigue and excitement. For example, in early May, Tony Green, city councilor and retired Air Force colonel, was joined by several vendors who served in the military as he rang the bell to start the market.
Photo Courtesy Carmel Farmers Markets
Annual special events are also all the rage, including Jim Keckley Donut Day, which honors the first Market Master of the Carmel Farmers Market. Meanwhile, the Carmel Firehouse Cook-Off was launched in 2000, pitting the city’s six firehouses against each other and allowing guests to vote on their favorite dishes.
“Most people only see firefighters on what is most likely one of the worst days of their life — when their house is burning — and they don’t have an opportunity to see them as members of the community interacting with our citizens [absent an emergency], and this cookoff has been a prime way for people to experience that,” Ron Carter, the previous president of the Carmel Farmers Market, explained to Carmel Monthly Magazine.
Photo Courtesy Carmel Farmers Markets
Coffee Creek Farmers Market
The Coffee Creek Farmers Market (CCFM) just entered its ninth year, featuring a new location. Now, at 2300 Village Point in Chesterton, the market is open on Wednesdays from 3 to 7 p.m. from April 10 through Oct. 30, or about 30 weeks per year. Not even a decade into its history, with support from the likes of “pumpkin-level” sponsor Glacial Sands and “sweet potato-level” sponsor Northern Indiana Public Service Company, CCFM was awarded the title of “Indiana’s Ultimate Farmers Market for 2024” by Indiana Grown.
Photo Courtesy Coffee Creek Farmers Market
With a mission to help develop a local, sustainable food system, the market encourages and highlights the benefits of eating locally and shopping seasonally. A lot of the food is brought to the CCFM within two days of being harvested or prepared. “Fresh is Best!” the website reads. Some of this summer’s most popular features have included fresh fruit from Klug Family Produce and constantly innovative pizzas from The Rolling Stonebaker.
Photo Courtesy Coffee Creek Farmers Market
The market also operates with a producer-only model, meaning the vendors must grow or make their products and cannot resell from others.
This feature levels the playing field and is more equitable for the farmer and local business vendors, 90% of whom are from northwest Indiana, otherwise known as “The Region.” In fact, CCFM notes that almost 50% more of customers’ money stays within the community by supporting a small local business as opposed to a larger corporation or business based elsewhere.
CCFM is also farmer-led, having been founded by Damien Appell in 2016. Appell operates the one-acre Native Roots Farm and calls himself “everyone’s favorite lettuce farmer.” He also interplants with other organic crops and works as a life and relationship coach. Appell realized there was no such market in the area that prevented resale, so he created one and now serves as its executive director.
Photo Courtesy Native Roots Farm
“It’s a market environment where we can actively support a local food economy,” Appell said of CCFM, where he also sells produce every week, in his vendor profile. “I myself didn’t really associate with small and local businesses when I was growing up, but our market allows our local customers to do this. It’s so easy to go to a big box or chain store, but CCFM provides an avenue for finding and supporting local farmers and food makers and strengthening our local economy.”
The success of the market speaks for itself. It boasts more than 300 weekly customers, 1,150 newsletter subscribers, and 8,600 social media followers. CCFM has also teamed up with NWI Food Council to accept SNAP/EBT CARDS and run a Double Up Program, through which each $1 of SNAP is “doubled up” to an additional $1.
Additionally, 50 vendors took part in last year’s season. The market emphasizes different types of vendors depending on the week of the month. The first and third Wednesdays highlight local and handmade artisans. This May, a mobile art studio called Make Make Pop Up set up a station where customers could pedal and operate Spin Art Bikes that churn paint.
Photo Courtesy Make Make Pop Up
The second and fourth Wednesdays promote local health and wellness small businesses. These include the likes of acupuncturists, chiropractors, health coaches, holistic neuropathologists, massage therapists, nutrition experts, somatic practitioners, and yoga studios. For example, the YMCA offers a free Functional Stretch Exercise Class next to the farmers’ market every week.
A summer live concert series at the Coffee Creek Watershed Amphitheater has also become a staple from 5 to 6 p.m. during CCFM’s operating season, featuring free coffee from the local Red Cup Cafe.
Zionsville Farmers Market
Zionsville Farmers Market was launched in 1997 when several volunteers decided to meet the need for fresh and local produce. Now located on the city’s main street — 340 S Main St. — the 2024 season sees the market still run by volunteers on Saturdays from 8 to 11:30 a.m. from May 18 through Sept. 28, with the support of presenting sponsor FreedomDoc Zionsville and sustaining sponsor IU Health.
The volunteers do such essential tasks as setting up and breaking down the marketplace and giving hints about where a piece of corn called “Cornelius” is hidden each week.
After celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2022, it seems nothing will hold the operation back, operating rain or shine with only temporary suspensions in the face of powerful storms.
Photo Courtesy Zionsville Farmers Market
Vendors bring fresh, seasonal, and local Indiana-grown, -raised, or -made produce, flowers, meat, and baked goods to the market. Any agricultural products being resold must have a label with the grower’s name and address. Craft items are not featured, but food-adjacent items like cutting boards, knife sharpeners, and soap are allowed at the market managers’ discretion.
The market’s ultimate goal is to be a community center where “people can come together, share stories, and enjoy local music while shopping for fresh and healthy food.”
This season marked the first time SNAP benefits were accepted at Zionsville Farmers Market. Specifically, an EBT card can be used to buy tokens that are accepted by vendors.
Every weekend features an entertainment guest, this year sponsored by Body Outfitters Personal Training Studio. The entertainers are a variety of local musicians, ranging from a 17-year-old singer-songwriter from the area who dreams of becoming a music therapist to a one-man band who moved to the U.S. and performs traditional Zimbabwean songs.
Plus, a different organization manages the Community Service Booth every week, thanks to the sponsorship of financial organization Edward Jones. For example, The Indy Book Project has been on hand to collect and redistribute new and gently used books in the local area.
The Zionsville Parks Foundation has also staffed the booth. One week, it handed out native aster plants. Another week, it pulled up with the Creekstomper. The former mobile forensics lab for the Zionsville Police Department and ambulance for the Zionsville Fire Department, now a mobile recreation vehicle, is painted with images of community activities and contains play equipment.
Photo Courtesy Zionsville Farmers Market
Special groups often appear with their own booths, as well. Humane Society Boone County is a frequent visitor at Zionsville Farmers Market. Dogs are more than welcome there, as the operation noted, “You’ve always got a friend in us!” on this year’s National Dog Day.
Photo Courtesy Zionsville Farmers Market
The SullivanMunce Cultural Center also makes common appearances. It has hosted a table for “The Bee Project,” where people can create their own bees using objects they have collected and other sustainable materials, which they then attach to a larger set of hives as part of a community art project. In August, the cultural center also teamed up with the Indiana Plein Air Painters Association for a Paint Out. Artists could be seen around the market capturing the scenes.
Photo Courtesy Zionsville Farmers Market
Contests are also common in the market. During August’s National Farmers’ Market Week, not only was there a scavenger hunt, but social media users who tagged Zionsville Farmers’ Market were selected and awarded with a prize of corn, flowers, or a tote bag.
Moreover, the operation has its own merchandise, including “punny tees” and tote bags, the sales of which provide funding for operations, programs, and expansion. However, the market gets the community involved beyond asking for money. It hosts a contest at the end of the summer to round up ideas for slogans that feature puns, ranging from “cool beans” to “every day I’m brusselin’,” and attendees vote for the winner that will feature on a future t-shirt.
Photo Courtesy Zionsville Farmers Market
