Winter farmers market coming to downtown Lafayette
Farmers market organizers set to test a monthly Lafayette Winter Market. Plus, a day in court for two lawsuits looking to block site for SK hynix’s $3.87B semiconductor facility.
Support for this edition comes from Brokerage Brewing Co., presenting Broktoberfest 2025. Join West Lafayette’s first brewery for four days of food, entertainment and beer, Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 25-28, at Brokerage, 2516 Covington St. Get all the day-by-day Broktoberfest details here.
Leading off this edition is news in this week’s …
By Carol Bangert / For Based in Lafayette
A Lafayette Winter Market? I’m in!
While perusing produce at the farmers market last weekend, I heard rumors that there might be a winter market in the works. I tried to curb my excitement, but I also recalled that for a few years now vendors and market goers alike have mused about the continuation of the wildly popular summer market in some form.
Instead of just wishing it to be true, I caught up with Molly Welch, events and program coordinator at Greater Lafayette Commerce, the entity that puts on the Historic Lafayette Farmers Market. Welch confirms that there will indeed be a winter market. Here are details she shared in a Q&A with Market Report.
Question: Is the off-season market a one-time event or will it be run regularly during the winter months? We’ve had a “holiday market” before; is this an extension of that?
Molly Welch: The Lafayette Winter Market (off-season market) will occur once a month January-April. The two annual holiday markets are a part of the 2025 Historic Lafayette Farmers Market season and will remain this way. The winter market will be its own market. It will serve as a resource for vendors to continue selling their products during the “off season.”
Question: If this is a regularly scheduled event, where will it be held, and on what dates?
Molly Welch: The Lafayette Winter Market will be held in the Lahr Atrium on Jan. 10, Feb. 4, March 4 and April 7, from 8 a.m.–noon. If this first time proves successful, we hope to continue this for years to come.
Question: I know you surveyed vendors at the Lafayette Farmers Market. Can you share the survey questions and any results? (Note: Welch says 40 vendors responded to the survey.)
Molly Welch: The vendor survey was very general, just to see if we would have enough vendors interested. The questions included:
Would you be interested in an off-season farmers market during the months of January-April? (Of those surveyed, 78 percent said yes; 22 percent said maybe/need more details.)
Would you be able to commit to a monthly market space or would you like the option to pay an individual fee each month-to-month? (Sixty percent said they could commit to all four markets.)
If you have any additional feedback you feel is necessary to contribute while we consider creating an off-season market, please include it here. (There is overall excitement for an off-season market, with some questions on location.)
Question: How many vendors will you need to make the off-season market a success?
Molly Welch: We expect to have a full space based on vendor feedback. We can fit about 20 vendors in the Lahr Atrium. As long as our vendors are excited and show up, I will consider our first run a success!
Question: What kind of produce/products do you expect at a winter/off-season market? Anything we don’t normally see during the summer?
Molly Welch: Patrons can expect the same produce and goods that they find at the regular market, just on a smaller scale. We want to offer this space to vendors who still have their goods to sell in the off season but don’t have a brick-and-mortar or other means to deliver their goods to the community.
For those of us already getting misty-eyed over the end of the farmers market season, this is great news! The winter market will be a chance to see and taste what area farmers are growing in Indiana’s coldest months, and a tremendous way to support those farmers year-round by purchasing fresh, local produce during the darkest days of the year.
Meanwhile, late-September fruits and vegetables at the market include:
Cucumbers
Onions (red, yellow, shallots, cipollini)
Garlic
Select greens
Green beans
Herbs
Carrots
Okra
Peppers: Sweet and hot varieties
Potatoes (new and russet)
Eggplant
Zucchini, zucchini blossoms, summer squash and other squash varieties
Tomatoes of all shapes and sizes
Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries
Peaches, nectarines, apricots
Watermelon
Winter squashes and pumpkins
DAYS/HOURS FOR THE MARKETS
West Lafayette Farmers Market: 3:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, through October. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the West Lafayette market. The market is held at Cumberland Park in West Lafayette with more than 50 vendors.
Lafayette Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturdays, through October, on Fifth Street between Columbia Street and mid-block to Ferry Street, and Main Street between Fourth and Sixth streets.
Purdue Farmers Market: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursdays, through October. The Purdue Farmers Market is held on the Memorial Mall on Purdue’s campus. This market is a concession-heavy market that allows students, faculty and staff to have lunch options in a unique outdoor setting.
Carol Bangert, editor of Greater Lafayette Magazine, has been a regular at Greater Lafayette farmers markets for more than 20 years. From May through October, she’ll scout out in-season produce at the markets and report back on fresh finds and how to use them.
DECISION ON MOTION TO DISMISS LAWSUITS CHALLENGING SK HYNIX REZONING EXPECTED IN 30 DAYS
A judge on Tuesday said he’d rule in 30 days on motions to dismiss portions of lawsuits aimed at overturning a 6-3 West Lafayette City Council vote to rezone 121 acres near Kalberer Road for industrial uses to accommodate SK hynix’s planned $3.87 billion chip assembly facility.
An hourlong hearing Tuesday in Tippecanoe Circuit Court was heavy on the process that led to the May rezoning decision and what sort of challenges would be fair game in a trial on claims from three West Lafayette residents who contend the city ignored neighbors’ concerns about putting the 340,000-square-foot R&D and manufacturing facility close to residential neighborhoods.
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