food

Third Annual Riverwalk Market Fair Opens June 2, 2012

Northfield’s Riverwalk Market Fair kicks off the 2012 season on Saturday, June 2 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Located on Bridge Square in the heart of historic Northfield, this one-of-a-kind open-air market runs every Saturday from June through October. Each Saturday features a different combination of organic and sustainably grown produce from local farmers, artisan foods including breakfast pastries and desserts, seasonal flowers and a juried selection of the region’s top artists including ceramics, watercolors, oil, acrylic and mixed media paintings, prints, photography, glasswork, textiles, wearable art, garden sculpture and hand-crafted jewelry.  The Saturday Market features live musical entertainment by local performers as well as family-friendly activities and special events.

This year, in keeping with its mission to provide a marketing venue for Northfield’s array of fine artists, food artisans, organic farmers and producers, Riverwalk Market Fair is showcasing emerging artists in their own tent, as well as young entrepreneur agriculturists, food artisans and chefs in the new Youth Tent.

Now in its third year of operation, Riverwalk Market Fair has become a favorite Saturday meeting place where neighbors and friends gather over a cup of coffee and a pastry, buy freshly picked produce and see what local artists have to offer.  The fair has become a popular weekend destination for a growing number of visitors from the Twin Cities, Rochester, Lakeville, Fairbault, Owatonna, Albert Lea, Red Wing, the five-State area and beyond.  Last year Riverwalk Market Fair drew an estimated 20,000 visitors, nearly double the number in 2010.

After October 27 the fair moves indoors and continues through December. Check the new Riverwalk Market Fair website, http://www.RiverwalkMarketFair.org each week to get the upcoming Saturday’s schedule of events. The list of vendors who will be there, as well stories and profiles of the artists and farmers featured each week. Check out Facebook and Twitter to find out what visitors are saying and discover what’s happening behind the scenes.

Harvest Festival!

Riverwalk Market Fair‘s Harvest Festival will be held on Saturday, October 15 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. along the Cannon River in downtown Northfield. The weekly artists’ and farmers’ market is planning a spectacular harvest celebration full of family-friendly events including: hands-on activities and games for kids, wool spinning demos, apple cider pressing and a community painting project, to name a few. Visitors to Riverwalk Market Fair can stroll and shop amid a plentiful array of goods including farmers’  fresh seasonal produce and artisan foods including pastries, jams, mustards and honey as well as the best of regional fine art and craft with juried pieces in mixed media, paintings, pottery, hand crafted jewelry and photography. Musicians will add to the open air autumn celebration. For more information visit www.riverwalkmarketfair.org.

This Week at Market Fair – Oct. 8

This week Market Fair profiles Finca Mirasol, a local farm that specializing in free-range chickens and an assortment of vegetables. They also grow black beans. Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, known for his work with the Rural Enterprise Center - a program of Main Street Project, was able to produce a cold climate variety of the native Guatemalan black turtle bean in Minnesota! Read more here.

Prairie Creek Community School is hosting a Poetry Making Activity this Saturday starting at 10:00 a.m. at the welcome tent that will encourage Fair goers of all ages to exercise their own poetry writing skills. Using magnetic poetry kits, one can build their own expressive thoughts on the spot! A microphone will be available on-site for those interested in reciting their literary work.

Also, mark you calendars for Oct. 15th’s Harvest Festival! This is a family friendly celebration with seasonal farmers market goods, live entertainment, and art activities from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

For current information on Riverwalk Market Fair, visit the blog found at www.riverwalkmarketfair.org. ”Like” Riverwalk Market Fair on Facebook and follow @RiverMktFair on Twitter.

This Week at the Market – Sept. 24

This week Riverwalk Market Fair offers some tasty bites for the crowds. Dan Borek‘s hot dog cart serves up 100% grass fed beef from Thousand Hills Cattle Company with fresh, locally-baked buns topped with zesty condiments like onions, relish, and sauerkraut all made close to home.  Klaus Huehn brings his famous sausage — a recipe from his homeland in Germany — to Riverwalk’s “European Fair” providing locals with an authentic experience of this flavorful food. (Don’t forget to add some of Luigi Sison’s German mustard for the real deal.) At the Welcome Tent is a demonstration of lacto-fermented foods like Carrot – Ginger – Kraut complements of Spring Wind Farm starting at 10:00 a.m. Try some samples, pick up healthy recipes to make at home, and visit Riverwalk Market Fair’s blog for more recipe ideas.

The Northfield Area United Way will be on site to exhibit their 2011 LIVE UNITED Gallery as part of its fall fundraising campaign. The Gallery showcases some of the local non-profits that get funding through Northfield Area United Way. It also profiles individuals who participate in United Way in different ways. Learn how donations are spent locally and see how they help keep Northfield strong.

For more information on Market Fair, visit www.riverwalkmarketfair.org.