About Us

Celebrating over a decade of serving our community!

Welcome to our community!

South Loop Farmers Market Story

For over a decade, South Loop Farmers Market has been a catalyst in pushing forward the local food movement and creating authentic community engagement in Chicago's diverse and growing South Loop area. The SLFM team is dedicated to and passionate about creating unique & fun experiences for our customers and economic opportunities for small local businesses, makers, & farms that need it most.

Our first season of SLFM (for those who remember) was in 2012 at the historic Wheeler Mansion in the Prairie District. We then took a two season hiatus until we were ready and able to find a home in a more visible location necessary for the success of the market. In 2015, we opened our Thursday evening market on Michigan Ave in the parking lot of Second Presbyterian Church where we would stay for the next 8 years. We survived the pandemic in 2020, primarily because farmers markets were deemed an essential business, which allowed us to continue to offer our outdoor market season and a virtual market for pickup and delivery with the support of our friends at the Church.

In 2021, we added a second outdoor location at Printers Row Park on Saturday mornings. In 2022, with the support of our community, SLFM expanding our footprint at Printers Row by adding a lot more vendors. We also made the tough, but necessary decision in 2022, to move our Thursday evening market to a much larger location in the undeveloped NEMA lot at Michigan Ave and Roosevelt Rd, at the corner of Grant Park. We hosted two fantastic Thursday evening seasons at Grant Park and could not have done so without the generosity and support of our friends at NEMA.

In January of 2023, we opened our first ever Winter Indoor market at the Roosevelt Collection Shops inside a large retail space at 150 West Roosevelt Rd. Our community come out in large numbers to support us and our winter market was a big hit. With the success of the indoor market, and the understanding that our Grant Park location was never designed to be a long-term home, in 2024, we accepted the invitation from our friends at Roosevelt Collection Shops to move our Thursday summer market to the Collection. We decided to go big this summer and 'Night Market' was born. Our new location provided the opportunity to produce a hybrid indoor and outdoor market. We added a lot more vendors by utilizing both the 150 West indoor space and the charming outdoor central plaza space, with amenities like a children's play ground, koi pond, and fire pits. Night Market also features, a weekly live music showcase on the plaza, an indoor Kids Zone with a weekly calendar of curated art, science and play activities, and fitness classes and other nourishment focused programming. Night Market is a place to grab some dinner from a fantastic selection of ready to eat and food truck vendors and enjoy a picnic on the plaza lawn with friends and family. And the best part? It’s entirely free, all under the city lights and the summer sky.

In January of 2025, we returned to Roosevelt Collection Shops on Saturday mornings for our second Winter Indoor market season. In the theme of going big, we added a second Winter Indoor location on Sunday afternoons at the iconic Water Tower Place on Chicago's Mag Mile. Our two winter markets are thoughtfully curated with a unique collection of vendors providing a much needed and exciting third space to escape the cold with family and friends during the winter months!

We strive to empower our customers and partners to engage in a participatory economy that will not only help sustain economic growth, but heal our environment, and strengthen our community. Each South Loop Farmers Market location cultivates a gathering place that is inclusive, diverse, and vibrant. We honor Chicago’s history and culture by bringing neighborhood & city-wide residents, artists and local businesses together every week, at our historic sites.

We could not be more excited for this season and the opportunity to offer our community such a vibrant third space. We know our growth and success is due much in part to our awesome vendors, stakeholders, sponsors, partners and of course, our wonderful customers like you.

Please join us for our 11th annual season and support local family farms, artists, musicians, makers, and small businesses.