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Eckhart Park Market Seeks More Produce Vendors for 6/6 Opening
- Bob Benenson
- May 24
- 2 min read
Brand New Market in Chicago's West Town Has Room for More
[Note: The original May 16 scheduled opening date for the new Eckhart Park Farmers Market has been moved to Saturday, June 6. Our Market Tracket has been updated.]
Eckhart Park is a community within Chicago's official West Town neighborhood. After decades of steep population decline, the 2020 U.S. Census reported that West Town had gained about 7 percent more residents to more than 87,000. The neighborhood's economic profile, which also had struggled, turned around with the arrival of more affluent and highly educated residents, bringing the median income to over $100,000 — more than 25 percent higher than the city's average.
These factors have prompted the pending arrival of the Eckhart Park Farmers Market. To be held on Saturdays (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.) from June 6 to September 19, this new entry will complement the long-running Sunday market in West Town's Wicker Park community.
But startup issues are not uncommon for new farmers markets, and for Eckhart Park, the problem is a currently thin lineup of produce vendors. While many of our region's bigger farm vendors are likely at capacity on Saturdays — the biggest market day each season — this sounds to me like a great opportunity for an urban or other smaller farm seeking to better establish itself with our farmers market community.
The following is the note posted by Mark Litton, the Eckhart Park Market coordinator, with the non-profit Advocates of Urban Agriculture. The message includes directions for how to contact him if you are interested or know a producer who may be.
Hello AUA Community!
I'm Mark Litton, coordinator of a new Saturday farmers market opening June 6 at Eckhart Park in Chicago's West Town neighborhood, and want to let you know we've got room for a few more produce growers!
The neighborhood response has been bigger than we expected. People keep asking when it starts. We have 35 vendors but we've only confirmed two growers so far, so there's a lot of room.
Eckhart Park is at 1330 W. Chicago Ave. West Town is dense, full of families, and somehow has never had its own Saturday market.
We're trying to build something that's more than a row of tents. Live music, kids activities, games, a bouncy house, long tables where people can actually sit down and eat together. The goal is a place neighbors come to meet each other and socialize.
We run 9 to 1, June 6 through September 19. Sixteen Saturdays.
It's our first season, so we built the vendor setup to be easy. We'll handle marketing through our channels and Instagram. And we're flexible on commitment, five or six Saturdays is fine if that's all you can do.
If you've got Saturday capacity, feel free to reach out. And if you know someone who'd be a better fit, forward this along.
You can also reach me on my cell at 773-458-5621.
Thank you!
Mark Litton
Market Coordinator
The Eckhart Park Market Gnomes
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