Farmers Markets near Harvard, IL

Listed separately from Marengo's downtown Friday market, this farmers market is tied to an address on Hawthorne Road on the edge of town. Public details on hours and vendors are thin — confirm the current schedule locally before visiting.

W Washington Street at S. Ann Street Marengo

Marengo's Friday market sets up at Calvin Spencer Park on Friday evenings, spring into fall, mixing local farmers with craft vendors and makers rather than running a produce-only lineup. Check the market's Facebook group for the week's exact date and vendor list, since the schedule shifts through the season.

Woodstock's market runs producer-only — everything sold is grown, raised, or made by the person at the table. It sets up on the Town Square Tuesdays and Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., from early May through the end of October, and was voted Illinois's number one farmers market in 2020. Produce, meat, flowers, baked goods, and artisan foods fill the square each market day.

Woodstock

Woodstock

Woodstock

This is the cold-weather counterpart to Woodstock's Town Square market, moving indoors to the McHenry County Fairgrounds at 12015 Country Club Road once the outdoor season ends. The same producer-only rule applies — vendors sell only what they grow, raise, or make themselves. It runs on a reduced winter schedule; check woodstockfarmersmarket.org for current indoor dates.

Building D Woodstock

Woodstock's winter market operates out of Building D at the McHenry County Fairgrounds on Country Club Road, the same fairgrounds complex that hosts the town's indoor cold-weather market. Vendors keep the producer-only standard from the summer Town Square market — grown, raised, or made by the seller. Confirm which building and which Saturday before making the drive, since the fairgrounds host multiple events each winter.

Lake Geneva

A separate market from Belvidere's longer-running Farmer's Market and Crafts, Hometown Market operates out of 324 South State Street through the B-Town Cooperative. It brings together local farmers, food artisans, and community vendors for an open-air setup in downtown Belvidere. Call the cooperative for current hours and vendor space.

Belvidere

Belvidere's Farmer's Market and Crafts has run since 1987 and is the only farmers market left in Boone County. It sets up Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., June through October, at 1940 N. State Street, with vegetables, fruit, crafts, local specialties, and organic goods sharing table space. Check the market's Facebook group, Belvidere Farmers Market and Crafts, for weekly vendor updates.

Huntley

Crystal Lake

Stade's Farm & Market grows across 2,200 acres of corn, soybeans, fruit, and vegetables, and runs a pick-your-own operation on top of it — strawberries and raspberries in early summer, apples from an 11,000-tree orchard by fall, plus tomatoes, snap peas, and pumpkins from a 30-acre patch. There's a petting zoo, corn maze, and hayrides for the kids. Open daily, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., through Halloween.

Crystal Lake

McHenry

McHenry's farmers market takes over Veterans Memorial Park on Pearl Street every Thursday evening, 4:30 to 8 p.m., from mid-May through late September. Beyond the usual produce and baked goods, vendors sell plants and frozen beef, crafters set up alongside them, and food trucks and live music carry the evening past closing.

Beloit

Our indoor market starts the first Saturday in November and ends the last Saturday in April. Rain or shine.

Beloit

Rockford's Edgebrook Farmers Market runs Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., May through October, on Alpine Road. Vendors sell produce, organic meats, flowers, plants, honey, farm eggs, jams, jellies, and artisan cheese — one of the longer-running seasonal markets in the area.

Burlington

Rockford-Shumway Farmers Market operates out of the Shumway neighborhood on the city's south side, at 5633 Linden Road. Directory listings describe a small, spring-through-fall market of local produce and goods rather than a large event — the kind of stand you'd find by asking a neighbor, not searching a festival calendar. Some listings mark it inactive, so call ahead before making a special trip.

Colonial Village Farmers' Market, also known locally as the Forest City Farmers Market, sets up at 1240 S. Alpine Road on Rockford's east side. It's one of several neighborhood markets the city supports outside the larger downtown market, giving Alpine-area shoppers a closer option for produce and local goods without the drive downtown.

HCC Realty Farmers Market sets up in the parking lot at 1280 S. Alpine Rd. in Rockford on Friday mornings, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., spring through fall. It's a smaller neighborhood market rather than a downtown destination, with a rotating handful of vendors selling fresh produce and farm goods.

Lakemoor's farmers market sets up along Route 120 in the village center, bringing local growers and food artisans together for a spring-through-fall season. It's a smaller village market rather than a big-city production — worth a call to the Village of Lakemoor to confirm this year's day and hours before visiting.

This Fox Lake market runs Tuesdays, 4 to 8 p.m., June through September, at School Court. Vendors sell fresh produce, baked goods, snacks, and crafts in this Lake County lake town.

Main St & Auburn St Rockford

North End City Market has run for more than 20 years at Main and Auburn streets in Rockford's historic North End, Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., May through October. Vendors sell seasonal produce, baked goods, and handmade items, and the market welcomes dogs on leash. It sits within walking distance of the neighborhood's art galleries and antique shops.

North End Commons is a separate weekly market in Rockford's North End, based out of a city lot near Latham and King streets rather than the longer-running Main and Auburn market a few blocks over. Vendors sell seasonal produce, baked goods, and handcrafted items through the spring and fall growing season. It's smaller and newer than its North End neighbor, worth checking for a shorter line.

Rockford's Midtown Farmers' Market runs Friday afternoons, 3 to 7 p.m., mid-May through mid-October, in the Midtown District at 1131 2nd Avenue. It's a growers-only market — no resellers — with ethnic food stalls, coffee, live music, and activities for kids alongside the produce tables, and it accepts SNAP.

Rockford

East Dundee

Old Dundee Sunday Farmers' Market runs June 15 through October 5, Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 319 N. River St. in East Dundee. Local growers sell produce and handcrafted goods in the village's downtown along the Fox River. It's a single-day-a-week market, so the Sunday window is the only chance to catch it before the season ends.

This East Dundee market runs Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., spring through fall, at 319 N. River Street. Vendors sell local produce, artisanal foods, and handcrafted goods in a small-town setting a few blocks off the Fox River.

Rockford

Rockford City Market runs every Friday from 3 to 8 p.m. where State Street meets Water Street downtown. The Rockford Rock River Development Partnership organizes it as a weekly gathering spot, mixing produce and maker stalls with live music and food trucks. It's built to pull people downtown on a weeknight rather than a Saturday morning, and it runs through the warmer months alongside the city's other riverfront programming.

IL Wauconda

The Wauconda Area Chamber of Commerce runs this market on Main Street downtown, Thursdays from 4 to 7 p.m., mid-June through early October. Vendors bring produce, meats, cheeses, breads, and flowers, with live entertainment and a kids' corner alongside the stalls. The Chamber can be reached at (847) 526-5580 for vendor or event questions.

Janesville

Antioch

Set inside Sequoit Creek Park at 845 Main Street, the Antioch market now runs alongside the village's Food Truck Festival and Sequoit Saturdays as one combined Saturday event, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. from late June through August. Expect fresh produce and local vendor booths in addition to the food trucks. The Village of Antioch manages vendor applications each season through its parks department.