Grow Food’s Tuesday Market returns for 2026 season

Grow Food Northampton’s Tuesday Market returned for the 2026 season on April 14.
Reminder Publishing photo by Trent Levakis.

NORTHAMPTON — Grow Food Northampton’s Tuesday Market returned for the 2026 season on April 14, kicking off another 30 weeks of a staple event in the city.

Located in the plaza between Thorne’s Marketplace and the EJ Gare Parking Garage, the market will run every Tuesday from 1 to 6 p.m. until Nov. 3.

This is the 19th season of the market and the 11th season as a program spearheaded by Grow Food Northampton.

The opening market on April 14 featured 34 local farms, food and craft vendors, and musical performances from indie pop duo The Sawtelles. Grow Food Northampton Farmers Market Manager Helen Kahn told Reminder Publishing that each week, the Tuesday Market will host dozens of local farmers and vendors selling fresh vegetables, cheese, meats, mushrooms, microgreens, honey, maple products, bread, baked goods, flowers, plants, herbal products, hot prepared food, crafts and more.

A rotation of local musicians is scheduled to perform at all 30 markets, and more than 40 farm and food vendors, and over 20 artisan vendors will join the market over the course of the season. A complete list can be found at growfoodnorthampton.org/farmers-markets.

“The number and variety of local farms, herbalists and food purveyors attending the market grows every year,” said Kahn. “The market provides a weekly opportunity for our community to connect directly with the people growing, raising and producing our food. There is a buzz of excitement around town, anticipating the opening of this season’s Tuesday Market.”

Kahn added that they took a chance starting the market a little earlier this year, but it paid off as temperatures were in the 80s during the afternoon, and crowds formed and bustled throughout the market.

“We’re very excited to be back out on the plaza,” said Kahn. “I’m honestly always surprised at how many people come to a farmers’ market because there are other places where people can get great food, but not to this quality and not directly from the people growing it. I think there is a real ethic in this community of people appreciating that they’re getting items directly from the farmer and wanting to support these farmers.”

Several new farms and vendors will join the robust lineup of returning vendors this year, including Bombeta Farm of Florence and Leominster, Bare Bone Roots of Savoy, First Tube Microgreens of Easthampton, Foxtrot Farm of Shelburne Falls, Herb Whisperer of Huntington, Larsdalen Lavender of Greenfield, Lilo Sourdough Creations of Becket, Portals Bakery of Holyoke and Twisted Bakery of Lake Pleasant.

Tellus and the Satellite Bar is also part of the market and will set up shop right outside its restaurant door to serve its signature pizza, sandwiches and drinks.

Kahn also pointed out that, as always, SNAP benefits can be increased by $10 each week at the Grow Food Northampton market tent through the SNAP Match Program. SNAP Match is made possible by the generosity of lead sponsors like Florence Bank, River Valley Co-op, Valley Home Improvement, Greenfield Savings Bank, National Grid, Baystate Health, PeoplesBank, Whalen Insurance and several other local businesses.

“As financial cuts and chaos at the federal level impact our farmers and market customers, we continue to focus on local as much as possible,” said Kahn. “We are grateful for our generous sponsors who support a robust SNAP Match program, making fresh, local, nutritious farm foods accessible to all in our community.”

Additionally, several vendors accept HIP — or the Healthy Incentives Program — the state-based benefit which allows SNAP customers to purchase an extra $40 to $80 per month in fresh produce from local farmers. Customers are encouraged to pay with cash to lessen the burden of high credit card fees on farmers. Folks can also save money by riding their bike to the market and using a $2.50 token to spend as part of the Bicycle Benefits program.

“Because we have the SNAP Match program, because we have HIP, this amazingly delicious and nutritious food is more accessible to people who are facing food insecurity,” said Kahn. “Along those lines, one thing we’re doing slightly differently this year is that we’ve always had our SNAP match, but this year during the winter market, I was noticing that there’s more and more people saying, ‘I don’t even have $10 on my EBT card,’ or ‘I’m running out this month,’ and so what we’ve decided to do is we don’t want to deny that extra $10 to folks just because they have a low balance, so now people can take any amount on their card, and we’re still going to give them $10 no matter what. It’s a little thing we can do. Thank goodness for all our really generous sponsors. We end up providing about $55,000 every year, $10 at a time.”

Kahn added, “Every time we hand out $10, we know exactly where it’s going, it’s going right back into the community, these growers and our neighbors.”

To receive a weekly Tuesday Market newsletter listing vendors and specials, sign up at growfoodnorthampton.org/signup.