Nampa Farmers Market started with three vendors and a parking lot. Now it’s one of the biggest weekly draws in downtown Nampa, and the story of how it got there is worth knowing before you ever buy your first tomato.
John and Afine Relk kicked things off on July 15, 1989, calling it the Nampa Farm and Garden Market. It ran in a parking lot across from where the library sits today. That first Saturday drew three vendors and not many customers. Most people would have called it a bust. The Relks kept at it anyway.
In 1998, the market moved downtown in front of the Train Depot. In 2010, it moved again to Lloyd Square Park, where it still sets up every Saturday. What started as three vendors now averages around 100 a week.
The market runs every Saturday from April through November, 9am to 1:30pm, rain or shine, at Lloyd Square Park between Front and 1st Street South. Vendors sell produce, meat, dairy, plants, prepared food, crafts, and artisan goods, and everything comes from within about 100 miles of Nampa. There’s usually live music or a dance performance going too, so it’s as much a hangout as it is a shopping trip.
For the current vendor list, weekly specials, or to place a pre-order, visit nampafarmersmarket.com.
The market isn’t just the same booths every week. Recent seasons have included a Mother’s Day flower-planting event, a Father’s Day weekend Kids Day, an Independence Day block party, and a Christmas in July celebration. Check the market’s own calendar before you go if you want to catch one of these.
You don’t have to. The market runs a pre-order system where you can shop vendors online and pick everything up at a designated tent on Saturday, so you skip the line and still shop local.
Every Saturday from April through November, 9am to 1:30pm, rain or shine, at Lloyd Square Park in downtown Nampa.
It started in 1989 with just three vendors in a parking lot near the library. It’s moved locations twice since and now averages about 100 vendors a week.
Yes. The market has a pre-order system where you can shop online and pick up your order at a designated tent on Saturday.
