Happy 25th anniversary to the Hillcrest Farmers Market (Facebook)
Farmers Market, Hillcrest

Did You Know…

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

…that the thriving Hillcrest Farmers Market launched in 1997, and with only 27 vendors?

Today the colorful Sunday market embraces more than 175 farmers, chefs, and artisans while attracting an average of 10,000 visitors each week.

“It was an instant success,” recalls community activist Ann Garwood when we spoke to her a few years ago after the market had added an additional 20 vendor stalls. “It was the only farmers market in Uptown at the time, and it gave people a reason to get out on a Sunday morning and socialize—and it still does,” she added.

Garwood served on the board of the Hillcrest Business Association (HBA), which oversees the market. She was a fierce advocate for it back in the day along with restaurateur and fellow board member, David Cohn, and the late HBA executive director, Warren Simon.

Despite the market’s festival atmosphere, which occurs under the towering gaze of the Hillcrest Pride Flag, today’s organizers say they haven’t lost sight of the event’s original purpose, which is to provide a pipeline of farm-fresh goods to the neighborhood.