Oct. 13, 2025

When the vendors at Falls Park Farmers Market began talking about how to grow, they knew they couldn’t add more Saturdays to the summer months.

So they decided to add more Saturdays — to the cold-weather months.

Two weeks after Falls Park Farmers Market closes at its outdoor location on the north side of Falls Park, it will open twice a month for six months at an indoor venue, the Mosaic Arts & Events building at 500 N. Main Ave.

About half of the summer Falls Park Farmers Market vendors will participate, said Nathan Van Zweden, himself a vendor for 26 years with Alissa’s Flower Farm and now a board member. Only current vendors will take part.

“It’s just shy of 20, and I’m still working on a couple of them,” he said. “Some of the vegetables growers, they didn’t plan for a winter market.” Other vendors had vacation plans or are facing health issues.

Participants wanted to go year-round or wanted to focus on a producers market rather than attend craft shows. “We’re not a craft show,” Van Zweden said. “That’s not what we do.”

Plans to extend the market come after what Van Zweden said had “been a good summer. There was lots of traffic, and we’re happy with it.”

The outdoor market will close Oct. 25, with the indoor market opening Nov. 15.

The vegetable growers will offer root vegetables such as carrots and potatoes. Fresh green lettuce and produce that farmers can grow indoors in winter also will be sold.

Other familiar vendors will include Heart of the City Bakery, Sweetgrass Soap, Songbird Kombucha, The Original Corn Pie, Salas Salsas, Gluten Free Please, Tail Chasers, Brain Beauty Co., Just Fudge It and Triple Silo Meats.

Like the outdoor market, the indoor market will offer live entertainment. Since it’s the first season, Van Zweden focused on scheduling musicians.

“We want to hold it to that and see how the room works,” he said. “Since it’s indoors and with limited space, we’ll fill it out and see how things are going before we jump into anything crazy.”

The Falls Park Farmers Market’s rules permit only vendors who come within 100 miles of Sioux Falls. Van Zweden estimates that 90 percent of the vendors live well inside that circle, ensuring freshness and locally grown and made offerings.

Hours for the winter market will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., pushing the schedule back one hour from the summer market. It will be open this year on Nov. 15 and 22 and Dec. 6 and 20 and in 2026 on Jan. 10 and 24, Feb. 14 and 28, March 7 and 21, and April 4 and 11. The schedule was chosen to provide breaks near holidays, Van Zweden said, and give vendors more free time during those periods.

“That was the biggest drawback our vendors were looking at — we’re busy for 26 weeks with the summer market, and now would we have to give away all Saturdays? Everybody needs a break, especially around the holidays,” he said.