On November 28, the Muskegon Farmers Market at Western Avenue and Terrace Street holds its last outdoor Saturday of 2026. One week later, everything moves into the barn. That barn holds about 30 vendors. The city has already put in writing that this isn't enough space: in its own grant paperwork, it says winter vendors have been turned away because there was no room. The barn's size explains most of what changes this winter, from the longer holiday market to the plans that went on display at the October open house.
The last outdoor Saturday is November 28
For the next three weeks, the outdoor schedule stays the same: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. After November 28, the market drops to one day a week. The market's winter listing says the indoor season starts Saturday, December 5, and runs every Saturday through April, except December 26 and January 2, when the market is closed. Winter hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The bigger change is how much space there is. The market's 2025 year-in-review gives a sense of both seasons:
| Outdoor season, May–November | Winter season, December–April | |
|---|---|---|
| Market days | Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday | Saturday only |
| Hours | 8 a.m.–2 p.m. | 9 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Selling space | 170 stalls on a four-acre site | About 30 vendors in the barn |
| Crowds in 2025 | 8,000–10,000 on peak Saturdays | More than 1,000 shoppers a week |
Winter crowds are a fraction of the summer peak. But more than a thousand people a week coming through a roughly 30-vendor barn is a lot of people per stall, and it means the winter market is drawing a crowd of its own.
A barn with a waiting list
The city put the barn's limits in writing last spring. That was when the City Commission accepted a $481,267 grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for the market. The grant application in the commission packet says:
"The barn can accommodate approximately 30 vendors, but weekly demand consistently exceeds capacity. MFM turned away at least 10 vendors for the winter market due to space constraints alone, and vendors continue to make additional requests for space."
The same document lists something else winter shoppers lose. From December through April, the barn is full of vendors on market days. That leaves no room for the nutrition classes and food demonstrations held during the outdoor season, so the market cuts back that programming in winter.
That's the context for this winter. The barn offers a fraction of the outdoor stalls, and last winter at least 10 vendors who wanted space there were turned away.
December gets three Saturdays this year
Last December's Harvest to Holiday Market was the first one, a single-day holiday event in the barn. This year the City of Muskegon has stretched it to three Saturdays in a row, all 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Each has its own theme:
- December 5: Mr. and Mrs. Claus visit for family photos and holiday activities. This is also opening day of the regular winter season.
- December 12: The market is the official first stop on the Downtown Muskegon Cookie Crawl, and it's open for regular shopping too.
- December 19: An ugly sweater contest, plus a gift shop where everything from local vendors costs $25 or less.
The Cookie Crawl is its own event with a separate ticket. The Farmers Market organizes it. A tin costs $30, and the crawl runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on December 12. Tins go on sale through Eventbrite at 9 a.m. on Thursday, November 12. The list of stops comes with the tin at pickup on crawl day, so the route is a surprise until then.
Keep two dates in mind after that. Right after the December 19 ugly sweater Saturday, the market closes on December 26 and January 2. The barn reopens the second Saturday of January.
What the city plans to build
The barn's size problem is also behind the bigger project. The city calls it "Growing Together," and in an October 21 announcement described the goal as turning the market into a year-round community hub.
The work comes in phases, and the barn isn't first. About $231,267 of the state grant goes to expanding Kitchen 242. That's the market's licensed shared-use commercial kitchen, where small food businesses rent space to make their products. The remaining $250,000 starts the barn expansion. The city's commission packet calls the barn the largest part of the project, to proceed "as additional funding sources are secured." Preliminary estimates put the whole project at $1.5 to 2 million. The state grant covers about a third, and the grant money has to be spent by December 31, 2027. A community capital campaign is meant to raise the rest.
Kitchen 242 gets the money first for the same reason the barn needs it: it's nearly full. In 2025 the kitchen ran close to capacity during peak months, supported about 20 food businesses, and saw one maker move out into their own licensed space. One business working out of it is Honey Girl, a small-batch granola maker that launched in September 2024 and has since grown across Michigan.
The concept drawings in the city's construction-management request for proposals show what a bigger barn would mean for winter shoppers. Indoor vending space would grow from 2,800 to 4,675 square feet, and the number of stalls from 31 to 51. Compared with the roughly 30-vendor barn the grant application describes, that's about 20 more winter vendors, which covers the 10 turned away and then some. A September 23 update to the city's Legislative Policy Committee went further. It describes a barn with room for a permanent fresh market, a ready-to-eat food hall featuring multiple local businesses, a market bar and flexible community seating. These are concept-stage ideas. Taken together, though, they describe a building that would be busy on more than one day a week.
Here's where things stand. On July 14, the City Commission selected Erhardt Construction as construction manager, starting with preconstruction services while the scope and funding were still being worked out. As of the September 23 update, staff were working with contractors on design concepts. The October 24 open house in the barn was a chance to see conceptual renderings and comment on the planned amenities. For this winter, the 51-stall barn is still a plan. The Saturdays starting December 5 happen in the barn as it is now.
Planning a winter Saturday around the barn
With fewer vendors and a building that fills up, the vendors who come back every winter are the easiest part of the routine to count on. Laughing Tree Brick Oven Bakery is one of them. The market's vendor profile says the bakery sells in the barn during the Winter Market, December through April, with bread, pastries, granola, hot sandwiches and soup. On a January morning, hot soup and a sandwich make the 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. window work as a late breakfast or an early lunch.
Western Avenue has a newer stop too. ZINI Dining & Cocktail Lounge held its grand opening at 380 W. Western Ave. on September 25, WGRD reported, on the same street as the market at 242 W. Western. On a December Saturday, the barn and the downtown blocks around it can fill a whole afternoon, especially on December 12, when the Cookie Crawl starts at the market and continues downtown.
If you want a say in what the market becomes, the Growing Together campaign site has project details and takes donations. For this season, the dates to mark are November 28 for the last outdoor Saturday, December 5 for the first barn Saturday, and December 26 and January 2 for the two Saturdays the doors stay closed.
At Steven A Elder, we follow the details that shape ordinary weeks along the lakeshore, from barn Saturdays on Western Avenue to the projects that will change them. If a market morning downtown is part of the Muskegon routine you're picturing, we're glad to help you find a home that fits it. Explore West Michigan Listings.
