The long-running Northfield Farmers Market has undergone a location and name change, becoming the Winnetka Farmers Market after attempts to find a downtown Northfield location proved too difficult.
Its new home will be Winnetka Village Hall’s south parking lot, on the corner of Oak Street and Green Bay Road, said Terry Dason, executive director of the Winnetka-Northfield Chamber of Commerce.
The market, which is run by the Chamber, opens Saturday and will run from 7:30 a.m. to noon each Saturday until Oct. 20, Dason said. The only exception will be June 16, when it closes to make way for the Winnetka Music Festival.
“Winnetka has always wanted a farmers market, so this works for us,” Dason said. “We’re setting up and moving forward.”
“We’re happy to provide them with that space,” village manager Rob Bahan said. “We’re regularly looking for opportunities to bring events to all our downtowns, and we were very happy to take it on.”
Northfield residents can still visit a market in their village this summer, thanks to the Northfield Park District’s inaugural Northfield Market and Music program. The new effort will run from 3-7 p.m.Wednesdays at Clarkson Park, 1950 New Willow Road, through Aug. 29, district representative Nada Becker said.
The program will include family-oriented entertainment from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and will be followed at 7 p.m. by music concerts, she said.
“Clarkson has always been a neighborhood center and a summer activity center, but largely for younger children and sports” she said. “This event really broadens what we’re offering the community. We also think the mid-week timing will work for people.”
The Chamber of Commerce, which has run the Northfield market for many years, learned late last year that its last location on the west parking lot of New Trier High School’s Northfield campus, would be unavailable because of summer construction projects.
Earlier this year, Dason said her organization wanted to move operations to Northfield’s municipal parking lot on Orchard Lane, between Happ and Northfield Roads south of Willow Road.
ComEd actually owns the lot and leases it to the village, Northfield village manager Stacy Sigman said in April. The village in turn subleases the property to Mariano’s, the Northfield branch of the Winnetka-Northfield Library and the post office, she said.
At the time, Sigman said she thought the Chamber would have to get permissions from each of the leasing groups.
Dason said that although she submitted a proposal to Northfield in early May, “We knew there were going to be some obstacles. It looked daunting and it didn’t look like it could be done this year.”
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Winnetka officials had offered the location if Northfield efforts didn’t pan out, Dason said, and the two sides reached agreement May 16. The space is a little smaller than the market’s old home, but the village has offered additional space behind Village Hall if that becomes necessary.
“They didn’t want to step on any toes in Northfield, which has been supportive of the market, but they were ready to step in if necessary,” Dason said.
Dason said the Chamber also was supportive of the park district’s new effort, adding, “If this works, I commend them.”
For information on the Winnetka Farmer’s Market, go to www.villageofwinnetka.org. For information on the Northfield Park District Northfield Market and Music program, go to www.northfieldparkdistrict.org.