Bloomington, IN: Farmer's Market Holiday Market

This past Saturday was the annual Holiday Market at the Farmer's Market! I talked Eric's family into going with me and we had a good time.

The market was huge! I have gotten used to the ever-decreasing number of vendors throughout the fall, and it was a shock to my system to see the parking lot so full :) There were tons and tons of people there too (to the point where it's hard to walk!), and it was just awesome. I have professed my love for the B-town Farmer's Market before, and it only grew with seeing the Holiday Market.

I found a bunch of gifts here too ;) Pretty much nothing beats local/locally-made products, especially when you buy it directly from the person who made it.

Per usual, there was plenty of music. One of the theaters in town, the Cardinal Stage Company, is putting on Willy Wonka, and they had a group singing some songs from the show. There was also a large stage set up for other groups to perform.

And there were chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

PLUS, the Holiday Market also continued inside City Hall (the Showers building). I had no idea it was going to be such a big event.

There were so many people and vendors inside. The entire City Hall was taken over by vendor booths selling everything from ornaments to jewelry to soap. My only complaint was there were essentially NO Bloomington/Indiana/IU products. I saw one person selling Bloomington puzzles. That was it (and we looked at every booth). My main goal is to find locally-related products (not just locally-made), so I was pretty disappointed with that, but otherwise, it was awesome.

As we were leaving, there was a fiddler playing and several people were dancing. Man, I love the Farmer's Market.

The outdoor Farmer's Market is done for the season, but the Winter Market is starting up this Saturday!