The Austin Town Hall farmers market has opened for the year. From now through October, the market takes place every Thursday at Austin Town Hall from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. – offering the likes of produce, meat and dairy, baked goods and hot food.
To kick off the season June 12, over a dozen vendors and community organizations set up tents at 5610 W. Lake St.
The number of those selling goods and providing other resources has been up since 2023, when Market Manager Veah Larde, who was raised in Austin, took the reins. That year, attendance at the market drew up to165 people in one day – a record for the market, which launched in 2012. Last season, Larde said, was also a success.
Larde has high hopes for this year’s market. Though maybe a dozen people milled about the first hour of the market on opening day, Larde expects this year’s attendance to pick up at the end of the month, once schools are out and summer is in full swing. Then, the market will have a dedicated tent for children’s activities.
Larde said she’s excited to keep building the market up, envisioning it growing to “a mini Taste of Chicago,” providing diverse offerings that appeal to locals even outside of Austin.
“We want the community to know this is their market,” Larde said. “It’s not just for Austin, it’s for everyone.” She added, “It’s about people understanding the community and loving on the community of Austin.”
This year’s vendors
Throughout the 2025 season, the Austin Town Hall Market expects to host 24 vendors, ranging from those who sell jewelry to hot sauce and olive oil.
Though the market saw several hair and body care vendors last year, 2025 is the first year Keena Renee has sold her wares from Spread the Love Body Butters and Scrubs with Essential Oils at the market. With nearly a decade of experience selling at other farmers markets, Renee wanted to join a new market close to her Oak Park home.
“My favorite part is networking with the vendors and creatives,” Renee said. Her best-selling products are body butter and body oil.
Larde said she had a recent phone call with a woman who sells plants and succulents, who asked to join future markets.
“We haven’t had that,” Larde said. “We’re slowly bringing things into Austin that make sense.”
When Larde started as market manager, she attended community meetings and events, hearing from Austin locals that they desired more access to staples like produce and meat. So that’s what she prioritized.
Though Forty Acres Fresh Market is opening in Austin later this year, it will be the only sizable grocery store for nearly 100,000 Austin residents. And with many parts of Austin experiencing food insecurity, without easy access to fresh fruit and vegetables, the market serves as a mid-week shopping opportunity between grocery store trips.
Fresh produce also informs market attendees about what’s in season and when, “bringing yourself back to health through food,” Larde said.
Larde has intentionally increased the number of vegan vendors since 2023. That year, she previously told Austin Weekly News that some people were scared to try it. Attendee perception, she said, improved last year, Bot Bakery’s first season with the market.
“I enjoyed it enough last year that I’m coming back,” said Betty Alper, owner of Bot Bakery, which sells vegan and gluten free baked goods.
Based on Chicago’s Southeast side, Alper said the Thursday afternoon market fits in with the schedule of delivering Bot Bakery’s goods across Chicago. Alper’s partner’s mother also lives in Austin, and Alper is excited to get more in touch with the neighborhood through another season at the market.
Alper said the best part of the Austin Town Hall market is the regular community members who show up weekly, especially children and seniors. Though Bot Bakery has been at other farmers markets for 14 years, Alper is with the Austin Town Hall market for the long haul and excited to see how it grows.
“What’s the market going to be like in 10 years?” Alper asked rhetorically.
The question offers a sense of future hope that benefits both vendors and the market as a whole.
“With growth, we’re investing in them, and they’re investing in us,” Larde said.
This year is Sweetly Vegan, Cakes & Co’s first at the market. Founder Sonseeahray McHenry said she started selling her vegan desserts at other Chicago markets two years before this, but when her family moved, she expanded her reach, applying to various markets in the area. She said she wanted to join the Austin Town Hall market to reach a new crowd.
McHenry’s favorite part of farmers markets is interacting with customers and getting feedback about her baking, “meeting new customers who try my stuff.”
Every vendor takes LINK and SNAP payment, which Larde said is a unique feature at farmers markets. And for every $1 attendees spend with either, they get $1 back from the market, up to $25.
“This helps you trust your dollar,” Larde said.
Additional offerings
The Austin Town Hall farmers market is more than just vendors. There are also organizations offering resources to the community. Last year, Larde said Thresholds helped seniors sign up for health care plans and take blood pressure at the market. Larde said the feedback she heard from that alone makes the market all worth it.
Larde said seniors told her, “‘Thank you because I never understood my blood sugar.’” She added, “We did a service that’s beyond the market.”
On the market’s opening day, there was a cooking demonstration by Beyond Hunger. Throughout the season, five local chefs who won $9,000 grants from Austin Eats will also put on food demonstrations at the market.
Though the market put on cooking demonstrations last year, too, such presentations allow market attendees to learn something new about ingredients and cooking, “educating the next generation of chefs,” Larde said.
As in previous seasons, the market also offers yoga and massage therapy with SkyLight Body Therapy, live music and entertainment, and grow kits from Chicago Grows Food that help attendees start their own garden.
With returning and new participants, Larde has high hopes that the Austin Town Hall farmers market will continue on its upward trajectory. She said she’s gotten more phone calls than last year about the market schedule, and two people showed up to shoot footage for documentaries on its opening day.
“I want bumper-to-bumper tents,” Larde said of her goals.