Downtown Coeur d'Alene farmers market opens to huge crowd, 50 booths

Hundreds of shoppers packed nearly three blocks of Fifth Street Wednesday as the downtown Coeur d'Alene farmers market opened with more than 50 booths, giving downtown one of its strongest early-season reads on foot traffic and small-vendor activity.

The 5th Street Farmers Market, organized by the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association, is built around a simple mission: give vendors a place to sell directly to customers and give downtown a central gathering place. On opening day, that translated into a steady stream of people moving from stall to stall at 5th and Sherman Avenue from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The market’s size made the event feel less like a casual block gathering than a seasonal downtown engine. Farmers and growers stood alongside local businesses, street food vendors, crafts, community members and live music, creating the kind of mixed-use street scene that keeps shoppers downtown long after they arrive for produce alone. For small businesses, the crowd meant immediate exposure; for nearby shops and restaurants, it meant more people on the sidewalk and more activity in the heart of the city.

Among the vendors drawing attention was Little Goaty Goat Farm, where owners spoke with customers about their products. Nearby, Emy McNosky was preparing Spanish paella for marketgoers while her husband helped in the background, a reminder that the market now functions as both a sales floor and a direct connection between the people making the food and the people buying it.

Jerry McIntosh, who came over from Hayden, said the weather could hardly have been better for the launch. That mattered on a day meant to test whether the market can turn a weekday afternoon into a reliable downtown draw as summer approaches.

The market is set for Wednesdays at 5th and Sherman from May through September, a schedule that places it squarely in the city’s busiest seasonal stretch. This year’s market is bringing in about 80 vendors, up from nearly 70 at last year’s opening, underscoring how quickly the event has grown into a major downtown fixture.

The broader Kootenai County Farmers Markets organization says it has served northern Idaho since 1986 and is marking 40 years in 2026. It operates the Wednesday market in downtown Coeur d'Alene and a Saturday market in Hayden and Riverstone, extending the same local food economy across the county.

Local listings describe the Wednesday market as a recurring summer event filled with produce, flowers, pastries, art and music. On opening day, the crowd on Fifth Street showed how much that mix matters to downtown Coeur d'Alene: it brings residents, visitors and small vendors into the same public space, and it helps set the pace for the city’s summer economy.