Going to a Seattle-area farmers market is the most fun you can have with your kids and still come home with groceries. Here are three reasons to visit your neighborhood farmers’ market:
The Food
Not only are there tables piled high with fresh crops from local farmers, but there are also great street food vendors, so you can grab lunch or a snack while you are there. And that’s not counting the fruits and vegetables that are consumed on the way home. Watch your kid get a sudden appetite for donut peaches, snap peas, or some other seasonal treat. Even though you might have had plans to have some to eat later, it’s hard to argue with your child eating too many fresh fruits or vegetables. And if you are in a recipe rut, a spontaneous buy at a farmer’s market table is a great way to liven your routine and discover new tastes.
Vendors tend to work several markets, so you are likely to run into your favorite people in a variety of places. Nash’s Organics or Sidhu Farms has delicious berries and jam. And the frozen treats at Seattle Pops are wonderful on a hot day.
The Folks
In an era when far too much of our social interaction takes place on glowing screens, it is refreshing to have an event that brings random groups of people together. Not only will your kids have the chance to chat with the people who grew their food, but they will also run into neighbors, former classmates, sports teammates, or old friends they don’t see often enough. There is usually a puppy or two to greet and an array of strangers dressed in extraordinary ways.
There are also formal community-building initiatives underway. University of Washington Cooperative Extension has master gardeners at tables at many farmers’ markets, where they can answer your gardening questions. There are earnest public servants spreading the word about the latest housing, transit, or environmental policy.
The Culture
Every busy Seattle area farmers’ market has buskers playing acoustic tunes spanning all manner of genres. Alongside the farmers, there are artisans selling their colorful creations. And there are sometimes kids’ activities. For example, in August, several farmers’ markets host “zucchini races,” in which kids race cars they make by attaching wooden wheels to summer squash, provided by farmers.
Here’s a list of Seattle’s farmers’ markets that you can enjoy all year long or seasonally:
Year-round Seattle-area farmers markets
Ballard Farmers Market
- Time: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays (year-round)
- Location: 22nd Ave NW and NW Market St
- Setting: A couple of closed-off city streets
- Convenient to: Ballard, Northwest Seattle
Unless it is raining, this big Sunday street market is crowded. People sit on curbs to eat lunch if they can find a spot between the many buskers. It is open rain or shine.
Capitol Hill
- Time: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays (year-round), and 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays (June to September) for the Summer Tuesdays Farmers Market
- Location: E Barbara Bailey Way (E Denny Way between Broadway & 10th Ave E)
- Setting: The brick plaza and sidewalk near Seattle Central College
- Convenient to: Cal Anderson Park, light rail
Some neighborhood farmers’ markets are temporary landmarks, dropping a nugget of activity and color in an otherwise tranquil neighborhood. Capitol Hill Farmers Market is more like an activity and color to match all the other activities and colors in its vibrant surroundings. As a shopping experience, it’s mellow — plenty of produce and treats, but not a lot of crowds and buskers. It is now offering evening hours on Tuesdays.
University District
- Time: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays (year-round)
- Location: University Way NE between 50th & 52nd
- Setting: A closed-off city street
- Convenient to: University of Washington, Northeast Seattle
Like the Ballard market, this is a big market, but it has more space and a calmer vibe.
West Seattle
- Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays (year-round)
- Location: California Ave. SW & SW Alaska
- Setting: Closed-off streets
- Convenient to: Alki Beach
Another big, bustling, neighborhood market. West Seattle regulates busking a little more tightly than Ballard does, keeping performers to designated spots, for example, and so while you can expect musical accompaniment on a nice day, it won’t be quite the free-for-all you’d find going on in the other market.
Seasonal Seattle-area farmers markets
Auburn Farmers Market
- Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays, (June 7 through September 20, 2026)
- Location: Les Gove Park, 910 9th St. SE, Auburn, WA 98002
- Setting: Park
- Convenient to: White River Valley Museum, Auburn Library
They will have farm fresh produce, fresh cut flowers, meat, cheese, honey, wine, coffee beans, handmade crafts and body care products, prepared food, and more! Check out all upcoming Farmers Market dates and special events here.
Burien Farmers Market
- Time: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursdays (May-October) & 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (November-April)
- Location: Burien Town Square, 15100 6th Ave SW, Burien, WA 98166
- Setting: Park
- Convenient to: Burien Library, Seahurst Park, Lake Burien, Burien Community Center, SeaTac Airport
The Summer Market opens from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (May-Oct) every Thursday. Vendors rotate often and seasonally, no week is ever the same as the last: fruits, vegetables, and seasonal produce, jams, honey, preserves, kombucha, baked goods, fresh flowers, cheese, bath and body products, house plants and potted plants, gems & stones, gifts, wine, meat, snacks, and art. During the summer market season, families can enjoy live music and food tents!
Columbia City Farmers Market
- Time: 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays (May 6 through Oct. 28, 2026)
- Location: 37th Ave S. & S. Edmunds St.
- Setting: Closed-off city street
This medium-sized market has buskers and kids’ activities and is a packed neighborhood hub through the summer. There will be seasonal tastings and demonstrations at the markets over the summer and Applelooza in the fall. Don’t forget their zucchini races in August.
Delridge Farmers Market
- Time: 2026 dates TBD
- Location: 9421 18th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98106
- Setting: Near Roxhill and West Crest Park, and Southgate Roller Rink, Westwood Village
- Convenient to: Southgate Roller Rink and Westwood Village
This vibrant community market prioritizes BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) entrepreneurship and access to fresh, healthy, and culturally relevant foods in southwest Seattle. They give $5 youth bucks to all kids each week to practice healthy shopping habits and provide free diapers, hygiene, personal care, and other basic needs. This is a great place to bring your kids, families, and friends to celebrate the season’s harvests.
Lake City Farmers Market
- Time: 3 to 7 p.m. Thursdays (June 4 to Sept. 24, 2026)
- Location: NE 125th & 28th NE, next to the Library off Lake City Way, 98125
- Setting: In front of a community center, next door to a library and a park
- Convenient to: Matthews Beach, playground in Albert Davis Park
This medium-sized market is well set to enhance the summer of neighborhood kids. Plus, kids can let off steam at the playground in next door Albert Davis Park.
Madrona Farmers Market
- Time: 2026 dates TBD
- Location: Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and E. Union St.
- Setting: Parking lot of Madrona Grocery Outlet
A medium-sized market and social hub for families on Friday evenings.
Phinney Farmers Market
- Time: 3 to 7 p.m. Fridays (June 5 through Sept. 25, 2026)
- Location: 6761 Phinney Ave N., Seattle, WA 98103, Upper PNA lot
- Setting: Upper parking lot of Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Center
- Convenient to: Green Lake, Woodland Park Zoo, Ballard Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Center playground
If the weather is decent, this medium-sized market will be packed. The nearby Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Center has a fun playground. Kids can get their energy out at the next-door playground while parents shop or relax in the courtyard, enjoying live music
Produce on Pike Market
- Time: Wednesdays, 3 to 7 p.m., (June -September)
- Location: North end of Pike Place Market (Stewart to Virginia Streets)
- Convenient to: Downtown, Pike Place Market
Join every Wednesday for the evening farmers market with access to fresh fruit, veggies, artisanal food vendors, and more. There will be live chef demos each week, where Chef Traci of the Market’s Atrium Kitchen will be showcasing recipes featuring that week’s PIKE BOX produce.
SeaTac Farmers Market
- Time: 3-7 p.m., Wednesdays (June – October)
- Location: Matt Griffin YMCA, 3595 S. 188th St., SeaTac
- Convenient to: Angle Lake, light rail station, Westfield Southcenter Shopping Mall
At the market, you’ll find unique food and goods representing nations from across the globe, along with traditional farmers market staples like local produce and flowers.
Queen Anne Farmers Market
- Time: 3 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays (May 28 through Oct. 8, 2026)
- Location: W. Crockett St and Queen Anne Ave N. (closed off street, pool parking lot)
- Setting: Closed-off street, parking lot of Queen Anne Pool
This busy, medium-sized market is the only farmers market in Seattle that is not part of one of three larger entities: Pike Place Market, the Seattle Farmers Market Association (which runs Ballard, Madrona, and Wallingford markets), or Seattle Neighborhood Farmers Markets. Instead, this market is proudly independent and is run by a board of neighborhood residents. In addition to Thursday markets, they will host three select Saturday Markets (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.), including Spring Preview Day (May 10, 2025), Halloween Harvest (Oct. 25, 2025), and Thanksgiving Harvest (Nov. 22, 2025).
They will continue their Roots to Shoots in Kids’ Program in 2025 at their Thursday markets. This weekly event is for kids ages 3-12. They will have a chance to complete an activity, try two bites of delicious, local produce, get their market passport stamped, and get $2 to spend at the market on fruits and vegetables. Roots to Shoots focuses on getting kids to learn about the local food system, try fruits and vegetables they might not have tried before and engage in shopping with the local farmers.
Wallingford Farmers Market
- Time: 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays, (May 28 through September 2025)
- Location: Meridian Playground, Meridian Ave. N. and N. 50th St
- Setting: Park
This medium-sized market is situated in a spacious park, featuring a fine playground, a gazebo, a thriving P-Patch, and an orchard dating from the beginning of the 20th century. It is very pleasant to eat market treats on the lawn, in the shade of a century-old fruit tree. Often accompanied by music from buskers.
South Lake Union Saturday Market
- Time: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturdays (June 6 – Nov. 21, 2026)
- Location: South Lake Union, 2100 6th Ave., Seattle
- Setting: Near the Seattle Spheres
- Convenient to: MOHAI, Center for Wooden Boats
This is one of four small markets Pike Place Market holds in spots around the urban core. They will have handmade makers, food trucks, pop-ups, vintage clothing, and a DJ in the Park.
Tukwila Farmers Market
- Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Select Sundays (July 19 – August 30, 2026)
- Location: Tukwila Community Center, 12424 42nd Avenue South
- Setting: Street market
- Convenient to: Codiga Park, Duwamish Gardens Park
This brand-new market in town is located south of Seattle and will run on select Sundays from July through August! Families visiting this market can expect many activities, including live music, crafts and artisans, vendors with vegetables, fruits, and flowers, interactive art activities, and much more!
