May 1, 2025

The Falls Park Farmers Market reopens for the season this weekend — and if things go according to plan, it might not have an end to the season.

There’s a plan to expand to a year-round venue for the market, which dates back to 1912.

“We will be opening a winter market, and we will be going year-round,” said vendor and board member Nate Van Zweden. “We’re working the details of that out. We’re trying to find a good venue, and we’re looking at every other week during the winter versus every week (in the summer). That’s kind of exciting.”

In the meantime, vendors at the Falls Park Farmers Market will have more to offer customers starting this Saturday.

That includes new products from familiar vendors, such as Songbird Kombucha offering new flavors like raspberry rose and strawberry rhubarb.

That includes first-time offerings from new vendors, including homemade mayonnaise and yogurt.

That includes expanded entertainment such as jugglers and gymnasts, and a booth to allow nonprofits to share their messages.

Falls Park Farmers Market will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday at its site north of Falls Park through the last weekend in October, unless there’s an active tornado.

Van Zweden and his wife operate Alissa’s Flower Farm. Their business is the longest running at the market, going back 25 years to before the open-air structure was built.

This year, 40 vendors will set up early Saturday morning with six of them new to the market, Van Zweden said. A lot of the faces will be familiar since none of last year’s vendors retired over the winter.

Newcomers include Maple Drip, which has offered coffee since 2021, and Man-Yays. Other offerings range from fresh produce to dried fruit to fudge to macarons, all-natural beauty products, mushrooms and microgreens, artisan cheese, just-picked flowers and, later in the summer, sweet corn.

Triple Silo Meats, which also offers eggs, means frozen meat will return to the market for the first time in several years, Van Zweden said.

On Saturdays, John and Janna Wesselius split up. The owners of The Cornucopia in Sioux Center, Iowa, head different directions: John to Sioux Falls, Janna to Sioux City. John started selling his farm’s fresh produce and broiler chickens that were raised on grass at the Falls Park Farmers Market 20 years ago; the Sioux City venue was added in 2006.

This spring, The Cornucopia Farm & CSA will offer more colors and variety in its produce, John Wesselius said. Three or four new potato varieties have been planted, along with two tomato varieties and a red pepper making its first appearance in a couple of years.

“It’s important to have a selection that attracts people, and freshness, flavor and colors are a big thing,” Wesselius said. “People often tell me they come from a distance, a significant distance, and it’s a real big compliment how far some people come to get produce from the farmers market, and The Cornucopia specifically.”

Elsa Fokken and her husband, Jacob, launched their business, Songbird Kombucha, at the farmers market in 2020. They have seen steady increases in customers since COVID restrictions eased. Fokken attributes it to a resurgence of a need and a want for quality food.

The popularity of Falls Park Farmers Market is reflected in the number of vendors who apply each year. “It essentially doubles every single year,” Fokken said. “We are seeing so many people that are starting their own businesses and are looking for an outlook to sell their products.”

Songbird Kombucha’s owners have been experimenting with flavors that no one has offered before, Fokken said. Raspberry rose offers a sweet tartness from the raspberries and a floral note from the rose.

Wesselius not only is a vendor at the farmers market but also a customer. After an early morning start, a cookie feels good about 8:30 or 9 a.m. “I love David’s chocolate chip cookies over at Breadico,” he said.

While his schedule hasn’t permitted him to visit other farmers markets for several years, Wesselius knows what it’s like to be a newcomer. He welcomes new visitors to Falls Park Farmers Market.

“The ambience, to me it’s just a place where people meet,” he said. “You meet friends at the market, you bump into old friends. It’s different than any other shopping experience.”

From her Songbird Kombucha booth, Fokken sees families come in at 8 a.m. when the market opens, treat themselves to coffee and breakfast, then linger to enjoy the atmosphere.

“They listen to the live music, they take a walk in the park, and then they’ll be there for lunch. It’s an all-day event, for sure,” she said.

Newcomers should plan to take enough time to inspect all 40 vendor booths, Van Zweden said. “Be prepared to hang out and have fun.”

Nonprofits have asked Falls Park Farmers Market organizers for several years to be able to take part in the Saturday event. This year, it’s going to happen, Van Zweden said. Already, the nonprofit vendor stall is 95 percent booked by organizations such as the city police and fire departments, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

“They’ll have some face time with our customers and can explain their organization or get recruitment,” Van Zweden said.

Live music is offered at the market, but the sound doesn’t fill the entire open-air structure. That’s why a nonmusical entertainment booth has been added on the north end. Examples of the entertainment that has been booked for this year include dance troops that will perform and offer lessons, juggling demonstrations and lessons, artists, face painting and gymnastics.

The current Falls Park Farmers Market vendors who have year-round offerings will take part in the expanded event, Van Zweden said. Songbird Kombucha will be there, Fokken said.

“I’m so happy that all of the hard-working produce vendors will have an outlet for all their exceptional fruits and vegetables,” she said. “The farmers market as an organization really focuses on accepting small, individually owned-and-run entrepreneurs. In that way, they are really focused on giving the underdogs an opportunity to flourish in business the way they wouldn’t have had an opportunity before.”

Added Wesselius, “Personally, I think it’s important for people to eat local food, and it can be done. It’s a matter of making it convenient, a matter of making it flavorful.”

Falls Park Farmers Market offers opportunity for creative individuals to see their ideas come into being, Fokken said. “Our lives were completely changed by being accepted into the farmers market.”

Wesselius said he is fortunate because becoming a market vendor meant he could turn his dream into a reality.

“It blows me every Saturday when I go home with an empty trailer,” he said. “I was able to turn a small plot of ground into a farm, and it’s been my sole income since 2008. The market and the people who come is a very big part of that.”