GROWING FOOD & COMMUNITY. The Eau Claire Downtown Farmers Market bursts with bustling shoppers and busy vendors all summer long. 30-plus vendors kicked off the season at the beginning of May, with more than double that number slated to participate throughout the summer. 

Before the surprisingly swift heat of a mid-summer Wisconsin day, there’s a sweet freshness to the air. There is perhaps no better place in the city of Eau Claire to enjoy those moments than the Eau Claire Downtown Farmers Market, which has called the Phoenix Park Pavilion (300 Riverfront Ter., Eau Claire) its seasonal home for 20 years.

Before then, though, the market hopped around to a few local locations, longtime Market Manager Deidra Barrickman said. Once you tally up those years, the Eau Claire farmers market has returned season after season for about 33 years, she said.

Starting out as a vendor herself – with her mushroom farm – Barrickman became a charter member of the market’s board of directors a few years later, she recalled. She has managed the popular outdoor market since 2008.

There are about 70 vendors signed up for this summer’s markets – which return weekly on Saturday mornings through May; on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from June through October – with at least 10 that have been members since the beginning, Barrickman said.

“I really like that we are a ‘producer only’ market. All of our vendors grow, raise or produce the products they bring. This fosters a relationship between the customer an the person that they are buying their food from.”

DEIDRA BARRICKMAN

MANAGER, EAU CLAIRE DOWNTOWN FARMERS MARKET

Fun Guy Farm, pictured, is just one of the dozens of local vendors at the farmers market. Check out the Eau Claire Downtown Farmers Market website for list of participating vendors. Not sure what's in season? Use the harvest schedule as a guideline (though each year is different depending on the weather, growing conditions, etc.)

“I really like that we are a ‘producer only’ market,” she noted. “All of our vendors grow, raise or produce the products they bring. This fosters a relationship between the customer an the person that they are buying their food from.”

This summer’s vendor goods running the gamut: veggies and fruits of all colors in the rainbow; local and regional proteins like beef, chicken, trout, pork and lamb; hot sauce, maple syrup, honey, salsa and hummus; fresh-cut flowers, hanging baskets and other plants; plus iced coffee, ice cream and food trucks slinging some fuel to shoppers.

The Downtown Farmers Market also offers a match program for SNAP participants – “I’m happy and proud (to be able to do that),” Barrickman said – so those individuals can eat local, healthy food while stretching their food dollars.

“I like to think of the farmers market (as) a happy place where you’ll find smiles on both sides of the tables,” Barrickman said.

As the sun yawns awake each morning, local vendors fill the Phoenix Park Pavilion, ready to greet shoppers – beginning at 7:30am sharp. So, see you next weekend?

Keep up with the Eau Claire Downtown Farmers Market on Facebook for updates throughout the season and learn more online at ecdowntownfarmersmarket.com.