Westmont Farmers Market Readies Biggest Season Yet

Editor's note: This story first ran April 17. The Westmont Farmers Market opening day is today, May 1, 4-7 p.m.

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The weather is warming, the flowers are blooming; there’s just one more thing needed to truly herald spring’s arrival—farmers markets.

The Westmont Farmers Market is officially within its two-week countdown and readying for a May 1 opening date.

“Two weeks! I can’t wait, I can’t wait,” market director Doug Kelly said Wednesday. “The market is just growing and growing and growing, and we have great things planned for this year.”

Among those are new vendors, including Lanci Bakery from South Philadelphia, Haddon Township’s Mecha Artisan Chocolate and Bunny’s Cakes and Pastries. That’s not to mention all of the returning favorites, from bakers to pasta makers to South Jersey orchards and farms.

This year’s lineup, the most comprehensive in the market’s history, means customers can go shopping for the week, or even just for that evening’s dinner, Kelly said. The farms span those providing greens, fruits, vegetables and specialties, such as heirloom tomatoes. Vendors will sell bread, seafood, cheese and desert to round out meals.

Kelly also a full slate of entertainment booked.

“We’re a half-year market and we have 26 weeks of musical acts booked—local musicians like Ray Long, Sam Caruso and Barry Hollander,” Kelly said.

Now in its fifth full year, Westmont Farmers Market has grown into what Kelly originally envisioned. Nestled at Haddon and Stratford avenues, the Wednesday evening market draws robust crowds, but never so many people that you feel crushed. Musicians play in the background as customers shop, sit and socialize and talk with vendors.

“The market took a couple of years to get its feet and I took a couple of years to realize the things that will make it successful every week. We’re there now,” Kelly, who owns Blue salon in Haddon Township, said.

And why Wednesday, when most farmers markets, including Collingswood and Haddonfield’s, take place on the weekend?

“The advantage of being midweek, when you’re living and working in a bedroom community, is that a lot of people are busy doing things Saturday. Saturday isn’t a great day for food shopping, and at its heart, a farmers market is food shopping,” Kelly said. “People tend to run more errands after work, but they can’t wait to get out of places like Wegmans. They take the time to enjoy the farmers market.”

So instead of a weekend and in the morning, Westmont Farmers Market picked Wednesdays from 4 to 7 p.m.

“We’re the only local market centrally located on Haddon Avenue, and on a closed street,” Kelly said. “It’s like a European market that pops up in a plaza. It’s never going to get too big and it’s a pretty market to come to.”

Westmont Farmers Market is the first to open in the area (Collingswood’s opens May 4 and Haddonfield’s on May 18). There are a couple of key dates to jot down for the season:

May 1: Opening day

May 29, June 12: Alpacas will visit the market

July 3: The market’s Fourth of July celebration and a chance for customers to stock up on Independence Day celebration items

July 31: Actors from the Ritz Theatre will perform selections from Xanadu

Aug. 14: Peach Festival, featuring music by Ray Long

Oct. 30: Closing day with a Halloween theme

Dec. 7: The annual winter market (Saturday)

Westmont Farmers Market is open Wednesdays, 4-7 p.m., at Haddon and Stratford avenues, Haddon Township. The market’s website has additional information and bad weather closings are often announced on the market’s Facebook page.

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