Western Montana

It is a Saturday morning, the sun is playing a game of peek-a-boo from behind the clouds, and groups of families, college students, friends, and visitors are brought together in the heart of the great Missoula. The Missoula Saturday Market, which includes The Farmer’s Market and The People’s Market, is an essential ingredient that goes into flavoring the summer weekends of a town devoted to community. The Farmers Market, located at Circle Square in Downtown Missoula, offers a range of produce from starter plants for your garden to berries, vegetables, hand-picked morel mushrooms, melons, jams and syrups, fresh flower bouquets, and much much more. At the west end of the market (toward the permanent sculpture of the noticeable giant red X’s) is a circle of bakery and café vendors serving up the finest pastries and breads and warm drinks.

Just a couple blocks over on Pine Street The People’s Market features an array of different artists and vendors offering their unique creations of jewelry, paintings and photographs, pottery, woodwork, clothing, antiques, and many other authentic pieces.

Follow Higgins through Downtown and under the Higgins Street Bridge to an extension of the market where crowds gather to sip coffee and listen to live music while shopping for meats and cheeses, produce, and more. Here you can also talk to local organizations such as Lewis and Clark rafting guides or Missoula Valley Recycling associates who have set up information booths and are ready to share and answer questions.

It seems to me, whether or not I fill my basket up with greens and flowers or I buy a pair of handmade earrings or a little birdhouse, I can spend hours here just people watching, running into old acquaintances, or meeting new and interesting friends. Here, conversations spark like matches between strangers and smiles are irrepressibly contagious. Women share laughs as they try on big floppy hats and men shake hands with friendly passersby as they push a stroller. Kids beg parents for a buck to get an Italian soda or line up under a giant umbrella to wait their turn for face painting. Local musicians, ranging from elementary students to the wise and worn, set up their instruments, keyboards, banjos or cellos, along the sidewalk and play a tune encouraging coins into their upturned hats or guitar cases.

I usually ride my bike or walk to market from home, as many locals tend to do, but there is free street parking for drivers, though if you don’t get there early you may have to walk a few extra blocks out of your way. No dogs are allowed in the market for obvious reason, but I’ve come with my dog before and just walked along the outskirts of the market where, though I wasn’t able to make purchases, I could still socialize and enjoy the aesthetic of the event. Portable bathrooms are set up, but not always with connivance in mind, however if you ask any vendor he/she would be happy to point you in the right direction. If you’re planning on making purchases, don’t forget to bring cash, though a small number of vendors will accept checks and credit card purchases. Also, bring a bag or a basket. It will not only aid in conservation and minimal waste of plastic bags, but it will also allow you to be a little more immersed into the experience and fun of the market, not to mention you’ll have one bag to carry instead of a dozen small ones.

The market is open from 9-Noon on Saturdays, May-October.