Bemidji's Natural Choice Farmers Market reopens Saturday downtown

Downtown Bemidji’s Natural Choice Farmers Market will reopen Saturday, May 23, giving shoppers a fresh-season stop for local food and making Union Square busy again at the start of the growing season.

The market is set for the parking lot in front of Frizzell Furniture at 123 Beltrami Ave. NW, in the Union Square area near 2nd Street and Paul Bunyan Drive and close to the waterfront. The 2026 season runs May through October, with Tuesday hours from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday hours from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The opening market is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., a Saturday slot that puts it squarely in the downtown traffic pattern.

What shoppers will find goes well beyond a produce stand. The market’s regular offerings include fresh garden produce, baked goods, including gluten-free items, candies, pickles, jams and jellies, bison, free-range eggs, honey, maple syrup, local artists, crafters and live music. A market profile describes about 15 to 20 vendors selling products grown or made within 50 miles of Bemidji, including produce, meats, poultry, eggs, honey, baked goods, canned goods, soaps, personal care products and crafts.

That mix matters in a county where access, price and convenience all shape how people shop. The market accepts credit cards and WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program benefits, which broadens who can use it and makes it easier for families to compare local eggs, produce and baked goods with supermarket prices. For households trying to stretch food dollars without giving up fresh options, the market offers a practical weekly stop rather than a special outing.

It also matters for the people selling there. Vendors are from the Bemidji area, and local musicians are part of the market experience, turning the Union Square parking lot into one of downtown’s steady summer gathering places. Every Saturday from Memorial Day weekend through October, weather permitting, the market adds foot traffic to the downtown core and gives local growers, ranchers and makers a predictable outlet as the season builds.