Northampton's Winter Market Runs Every Other Saturday, and the First One Lands Right Before Thanksgiving

"We'll have a short hibernation before returning with our Winter Market on November 21st at the Senior Center at 67 Conz Street." Grow Food Northampton's market team wrote that in its November newsletter as the outdoor season wound down.

The hibernation is almost over. The last Tuesday Market on the plaza behind Thornes Marketplace was November 3, and the indoor market opens this Saturday, November 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The schedule after that is easy to get wrong. From late November to early April, the winter market meets on Saturdays every other week, not every week. Over a season that spans about four and a half months, that comes to ten market days.

Ten Saturdays, two weeks apart

Grow Food Northampton describes its year as two markets. The outdoor Tuesday Market ran 30 times, from April to November. The indoor Winter Market runs 10 times, from November to April. In 2026 the Tuesday Market ran every week from April 14 to November 3. The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported 34 vendors on opening day.

The winter calendar is thinner. These dates come from the City of Northampton's event listing for the 2026–27 season:

All ten run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Northampton Senior Center, 67 Conz Street. If you miss one Saturday, the next chance is two weeks away. If you miss two in a row, you go a month without a market. The holidays add the longest stretch of the season, covered below.

This Saturday doubles as Thanksgiving pickup

The city's listing says the market "returns to the Northampton Senior Center the Saturday before Thanksgiving" and points shoppers to "local veggies, fruits, meat, cheese, mushrooms, honey and gifts for your holiday table." Thanksgiving falls on November 26, so this Saturday is the last market before the holiday.

Turkeys are the clearest example. Chase Hill Farm told shoppers in Grow Food Northampton's final Tuesday Market newsletter that its birds graze organic pastures, eat a certified organic feed with no soy and no corn, and will be ready fresh for pickup at the first Winter Market on November 21. The farm took reservations by email at [email protected]. Market manager Helen Kahn wrote in the same newsletter that anyone still shopping for a holiday turkey should check with Chase Hill Farm about ordering one for pickup at the first Winter Market.

Honey is covered too. Red Barn Honey wrote in that newsletter that it "will be at the Northampton Winter Market this season." It sells local honey and pure beeswax candles.

December 19 starts the longest gap of the season

After Thanksgiving there are two December markets, on December 5 and December 19. The next one is January 9. That three-week gap covers Christmas, the end of the year, and the first week of January. It is the only gap on the calendar longer than two weeks.

So December 19 is the last chance at the indoor market for anything meant for a holiday table or a gift. Kahn's newsletter suggested shoppers start on gifts early and listed goat milk soap, herbal tinctures, linocut prints, and the Tuesday Market tee. This season's market poster was designed by Ava Blum-Carr of Preservation Orchard, according to Grow Food Northampton. Kahn also wrote that a postcard at the market table lists all the dates.

Who sells indoors

Moving indoors changes the lineup. Kahn wrote that several Tuesday vendors made their last appearance on November 3 until spring and that others will move to the Senior Center. The Daily Hampshire Gazette counted 20 produce and prepared-food vendors at a winter market last March. The outdoor season opened with 34.

Grow Food Northampton's vendor page lists this season's farms and food makers across both markets:

• Fruit: Apex Orchards and Park Hill Orchard
• Vegetables and farm goods: Crabapple Farm, Many Graces Farm, Red Fire Farm, Sage Meadow Farm, Sunrise Farm, Underline Farm, and Wingate Farm
• Dairy and cheese: Cricket Creek Farm
• Bread and prepared food: Hearthstone Artisan Bakery, Masa Mexicano, and P'frōgi
• Pantry and foraged goods: Red Barn Honey, New England Wild Edibles, and Sweet Birch Herbals and Full Moon Ghee
• Treats and textiles: Crooked Stick Pops and Taproot Threads

The page says "check back for updates." Kahn's note about some vendors going on hiatus for the winter means this roster may not match any single Saturday at Conz Street. If you're going for one particular vendor, the market newsletter is the most direct way to check before you go.

How SNAP Match works on a biweekly calendar

The indoor market accepts SNAP and HIP, like the Tuesday Market. According to Grow Food Northampton's SNAP Match page, shoppers swipe an EBT card at the market table for any SNAP amount and get an extra $10 in tokens. The match is capped at $10 per market, even if you run more than one SNAP transaction that day. The tokens can be spent on SNAP-eligible foods.

Since the match is counted per market, the winter calendar caps it. Through the Tuesday season the market ran every week. This winter there are ten Saturdays in total, so ten chances to collect the $10 match.

HIP works separately. Participating produce vendors process it at their own stands, not at the market table. The Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance HIP FAQ lists monthly limits of $40 for SNAP households of one or two people, $60 for three to five, and $80 for six or more. It also says HIP is available automatically to eligible Massachusetts SNAP households for qualifying fruit and vegetable purchases at participating farms. The program passed $100 million in produce sales this past summer, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Benefit rules can change, so this section is general information, not financial advice. Confirm your own household's benefits directly with DTA.

March brings the seed share, then April brings back Tuesdays

The two March markets, on March 6 and March 20, are marked "+ seed share!" on the city's calendar. Last season the Daily Hampshire Gazette described the March winter market as more than shopping. It included a Seed Share, gardening workshops, and a children's story time alongside the vendors.

After that, only April 3 is left at Conz Street. The newsletter that closed the outdoor season promised shoppers another chance at the market's purple tent and prize wheel in April 2027, when the Tuesday Market returns to the plaza at 1 Kirkland Avenue. Until then, the winter market is open on the ten Saturdays in the table above, starting this Saturday.

A market calendar like this one is the kind of local detail that comes up when you're thinking about where a house sits and what's nearby. If you'd like to talk about Northampton with someone who keeps up with those details, Shelly Hardy is glad to help. Schedule a free consultation.