Chicago farmers markets

This guide is for anyone who wants to buy Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin food from the people who grew it, and who wants to know which market to hit on which day. It covers the big Chicago markets, neighborhood markets sorted by day of the week, the suburban markets worth a Metra ride, the few markets that stay open all winter, and what is actually on the tables month by month.

Most outdoor markets run from May to the end of October, and a few push into late November. Dates and hours below are for the 2026 season, now in its last five or six weeks. Nearly every market listed takes Link (SNAP), and most match Link purchases up to a set amount, so ask at the information tent.

Green City Market and the big ones

Green City Market is the nonprofit that most Chicago chefs shop at. The main market is in Lincoln Park at 1817 N. Clark St., across from the Chicago History Museum. Saturdays run 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. through November 21; Wednesdays keep the same hours through October 28. The 22, 36, 73 and 151 buses stop at the market, and the Sedgwick Brown Line and Clark/Division Red Line stops are each about a 10-minute walk. Street parking on Clark and Stockton is nearly hopeless on a Saturday. The History Museum lot on Stockton Drive is $14 for two hours with market validation. Get there before 9 a.m. for a choice of fruit.

The second location is in the West Loop at Mary Bartelme Park, 900 W. Monroe St., Saturdays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through November 21, two blocks from the UIC-Halsted Blue Line stop. Both Green City markets triple-match Link, so $25 of Link spending gets $50 more in tokens. The organization also bought a building at 2457 W. Montrose Ave. in North Center in December 2025 for $899,000, according to the Sun-Times, with plans for a year-round market and teaching kitchen.

Two farms anchor both Green City markets. Nichols Farm & Orchard, from Marengo in McHenry County, grows more than 1,000 cultivars on 250 acres and shows up with dozens of kinds of potatoes, tomatoes and apples; in October the stand is mostly apples, winter squash and brussels sprouts. Mick Klug Farms, from St. Joseph, Michigan, is the fruit stand: ramps, asparagus and rhubarb in spring, blueberries and raspberries in summer, peaches as the big seller, then grapes, pears, apples and fresh-pressed cider. Look for Phoenix Bean, the Edgewater tofu maker at 5438 N. Broadway, for fresh tofu and soy milk, and for Hoosier Mama Pie Company, whose seasonal fruit pies and savory hand pies come from the shop at 1618 W. Chicago Ave.

Daley Plaza, 50 W. Washington St., is the downtown market: Thursdays 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. through October 22, with every Loop L stop within three blocks. Noon to 1:30 is the crush. The Urban Canopy, the Pilsen urban farm and compost company at 2550 S. Leavitt St., runs a free compost drop-off here and sells its own produce at markets on the South and West sides.

Logan Square, Sundays 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. through October 25 at 2620 N. Milwaukee Ave., is the biggest Sunday market in the city and the most social. The Logan Square Blue Line stop opens onto the square and Divvy docks line Milwaukee. Driving is a mistake; side streets are largely permit parking. If you miss Sunday, The Dill Pickle Food Co-op, the community-owned grocery at 2746 N. Milwaukee Ave., stocks many of the same regional growers and is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

The 61st Street Farmers Market in Woodlawn, run by the nonprofit Experimental Station at 6100 S. Blackstone Ave., is Saturdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through October 31, with the entrance at 61st and Dorchester. The 59th Street Metra Electric stop is a short walk, and street parking on Blackstone is easy. Lincoln Square, in the lot at Leland and Lincoln (2301 W. Leland Ave.), runs Tuesdays 7 a.m. to noon through November 17 and Thursdays 3 to 7 p.m. through October 29, with more than 50 vendors, right at the Western Brown Line stop. The Thursday roster includes Mick Klug and Stamper Cheese, a market-only seller of small-batch cheese.

Neighborhood markets by day

Monday and Tuesday

Jarvis Square, 1500 W. Jarvis Ave. in Rogers Park, is a twilight market, 4 to 8 p.m. through October 26, a block from the Jarvis Red Line stop. On Tuesdays, Lincoln Square is the morning option, and SOAR’s Streeterville market at 220 E. Chicago Ave., beside the Museum of Contemporary Art, runs 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. through October 27.

Wednesday and Thursday

Andersonville, 1500 W. Winona St., runs 3 to 7 p.m. through October 21, about four blocks from the Argyle Red Line stop, with Nichols, Phoenix Bean and Stamper Cheese on the vendor list. Ravenswood, 4900 N. Damen Ave., is 4 to 8 p.m. through October 14, between the Damen Brown Line and Ravenswood Metra stops. Uptown, on Sunnyside between Broadway and Clarendon, runs 2:30 to 7 p.m. through November 4. On Thursdays, Wicker Park’s second market at Walsh Park, 1722 N. Ashland Ave., is 4 to 8 p.m. through October 29.

Saturday

Division Street, 100 W. Division St. in the Gold Coast, runs 7 a.m. to noon through October 24 at the Clark/Division Red Line stop. South Loop at Printers Row, 632 S. Dearborn St., is 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through October 31. Northcenter, 4100 N. Damen Ave., is 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through October 25. Plant Chicago in Back of the Yards holds a second-Saturday market, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at 45th and Marshfield.

Sunday

Wicker Park’s main market fills the park at 1425 N. Damen Ave., 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. through October 25, a block from the Damen Blue Line stop. Glenwood Sunday Market, 6960 N. Glenwood Ave., runs 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through October 25 under the Red Line tracks near Morse. Independence Park, 3945 N. Springfield Ave., is a second-and-fourth-Sunday market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., through October 26.

Suburban markets

The Downtown Evanston market is the suburban market to see once: Saturdays 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. through November 21 at University Place and Oak Avenue, with about 70 vendors and a $25 Link match. Park free in the 1800 Maple Ave. garage with validation from the city tent, or walk three blocks from the Davis Purple Line and Metra stops. Nichols, Phoenix Bean and Downstate Donuts sell here. So does Katich Breads, the Aurora bakery at 605 Plum St. that sells specialty breads and croissants at more than a dozen suburban markets, from Evanston and Oak Park to Naperville, La Grange and Palatine, and takes online preorders for pickup.

Oak Park’s market is in the Pilgrim Church lot at 460 Lake St., a block west of Ridgeland, Saturdays 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. through November 14. The cake donuts, fried by local nonprofits with a bluegrass band beside the fryer, usually sell out before noon. Park free in the high school garage on Scoville north of Lake, or take the Green Line to Ridgeland. Every Link dollar is matched. A mile south, Sugar Beet Food Co-op, a community-owned grocery at 812 Madison St., carries regional growers year-round, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

The Wilmette French Market, 722 Green Bay Road beside the Wilmette Metra stop, is Saturdays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. from April into late October, with more prepared-food and craft stalls than a village market. Skokie, 5127 Oakton St., is Sundays 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. through November 1. West and southwest: Naperville at the 5th Avenue Metra station, Saturdays 7 a.m. to noon through October 31; Downers Grove at the Main Street Metra station, Saturdays 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. through October 17; the Wheaton French Market at Main and Liberty, Saturdays through November 28; Geneva’s French Market by the Metra lot, Sundays through November 15; Elmhurst on Wednesdays and La Grange on Thursdays through late October.

Winter markets

Green City Market’s winter market has moved twice. For three winters it was at 3031 N. Rockwell St. in Avondale; in December 2025 it moved about 700 feet north to Rockwell on the River, the converted tannery at 3057 N. Rockwell St. that also holds a coffee roastery, a distillery and a barbecue restaurant, according to Local Food Forum. Saturdays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a holiday break has been the pattern. As of September 28, Green City’s site says only “Winter Market Coming Soon” and has not posted a 2026-27 location, so check before driving over.

The 61st Street market moves inside Experimental Station and has posted its indoor dates: November 7, 14 and 21; December 5, 12 and 19; then January 9, February 13, March 13 and April 10. Plant Chicago plans an indoor market February through April 2027. Evanston is adding a one-day holiday market on November 21, 2026. Last winter’s other regulars, per Local Food Forum’s tracker, included Logan Square on Saturdays at 2537 N. Pulaski Road, Wicker Park every other Sunday inside a hotel at 2018 W. North Ave., plus indoor markets in Wheaton, Skokie, Evanston and Palatine. None had posted 2026-27 dates as of this writing.

What is in season, month by month

The season here is short and intense, so the tables change fast:

• April and early May: ramps, asparagus, rhubarb, overwintered spinach, plant starts. Markets are mostly bread, cheese, meat and eggs.
• June: strawberries (the first two weeks are the good ones), snap peas, garlic scapes, lettuces, and the first Michigan cherries at month’s end.
• July: blueberries, raspberries, cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, new potatoes, and the first sweet corn and field tomatoes by the third week.
• August: peak everything. Peaches, melons, heirloom tomatoes, sweet corn, peppers, eggplant and the first apples.
• September: apples in earnest, pears, seedless grapes, late tomatoes, winter squash and fresh cider.
• October: dozens of apple varieties, pumpkins, brussels sprouts on the stalk, sweet potatoes, collards and storage onions.
• November through March: potatoes, carrots, beets, cabbage, squash, hoop-house greens, plus the year-round vendors.

Good to know

Checked September 28, 2026. Most city markets close between October 21 and October 31; Green City Market, Evanston, Lincoln Square (Tuesdays) and Oak Park run into November. Maxwell Street Market’s last 2026 date is October 4, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Maxwell between Halsted and Union. Bring cash for small vendors and a tote; bags cost 7 cents in the city. The good fruit sells out first.

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