The Downtown Windsor Farmers Market wrapped up its 2026 regular season on October 31 after expanding to its largest footprint yet.
The market operated every Saturday along Pelissier Street and inside the Pelissier parking garage from March 28 to October 31, expanding to 95 vendor spaces this year.
DWBIA chair Chris MacLeod says the added capacity was driven by strong vendor demand.
“We grew the market this year from 70 vendor spots to 95 spots, which was a huge success. And we had about 80 per cent of our days where we had 90 per cent or higher vendor occupancy,” MacLeod said.
Attendance remained strong throughout the season, with several Saturdays drawing between 5,000 and 6,000 people.
MacLeod estimates more than 125,000 visitors passed through the market during its 32-week run.
“Our last market on the 31st was one of the best of the year, and generally we see, and we did again this year, saw our highest attendance numbers in the first like five, six weeks, with multiple days between 5,000 and 6,000 people who came through the market on a Saturday,” he said.
Weather was largely cooperative, although MacLeod says one market day was cancelled because of poor air quality linked to wildfire smoke.
Despite a mild start to November, MacLeod says extending the regular season beyond October would prove difficult given the demands placed on vendors throughout the year.
Instead, attention is shifting to holiday events planned later this month.
“We are looking to do four holiday markets. We’ve got those coming up the end of November and first couple of weeks of December,” MacLeod said.
MacLeod says planning for the 2027 season is already underway, with organizers consulting vendors on possible changes and improvements.
He expects the market will return either on the last Saturday of March or the first Saturday of April.