Downtown Napa farmers’ markets for day and night
One can’t truly get a sense of our food culture here without visiting the seasonal farmers’ markets in the Napa Valley. Downtown Napa has two farmers’ markets with slightly different themes but each will appeal to all.
The traditional farmers’ market which features seasonal produce, specialty foods as well as some crafts, operates on Tuesday and Saturday mornings from 7:30 am to noon from May through October. It is conveniently located next to Oxbow Public Market where there is plenty of street parking.
The other is the Napa Chefs Market on First Street which operates on Thursday evenings from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm from May through August. The emphasis here is on the “Chef” as this market is more of a street festival with food vendors, cooking demonstrations by local chefs and live music at different locations. There will also be fresh produce stands next to the chef demo areas, for those that can’t make it to the morning markets! Visiting this street festival is a great way to unwind after a day of touring wine country up-valley.
In addition to all the great restaurants nearby, there will be plenty of food vendors such as Pizza Azzurro (new), Anna’s Catering (Mexican), La Crepe, Divco Dogs (hot dog cart), the Oyster Guy, Willie Bird (turkey), Fillipi’s (Italian) and Anderson Catering. New this year are the Food Trucks including Cross Road Chicken, Mark’s the Spot and Phat Salads & Wraps, creating our own little food truck “pod”.
While strolling around during the Napa Chefs Market, check out the Napa Art Council’s “Art on First” installations. The Art on First program gave 20 Bay Area artists the opportunity to create installations in select storefronts on First Street, and they are quite creative!
For more information on the Napa Farmers’ Market, check the website.
The Napa Chefs Market begins on May 19th. For changing line-up of chefs and bands, check out the Downtown Napa website.