The Woodstock Farmers Market Goes to College

Kelly Kempf

Sep 17

3 min read

SATURDAY, OCT 3 2026

We’re packing up the produce, loading the flowers, and sending the Woodstock Farmers Market off to college.

For one day only, the Woodstock Farmers Market is leaving the Square and heading to McHenry County College for our third annual one-day relocation.

Why? Because apparently, after 45-ish years of knowing exactly where to find us, we have to move the entire market when the City has another event planned for the Square. Farmers are a tenacious bunch, so we are packing up the whole operation and take the market on the road.

Our temporary campus is:

McHenry County College 8900 U.S. Highway 14 Crystal Lake, IL 60012

and we are VERY grateful for the team at MCC for accomadating us. It's a big deal!

And don’t worry — finding us will be easy. We’ll be in the parking lot closest to the traffic light, so you’ll be able to see the market right from the road. There’s also plenty of on-site parking and easy access to all the amenities you don’t necessarily get when we’re squeezed into the Square.

And honestly? If we’re going to move the entire farmers market to college, we might as well make it a whole thing.

Your favorite market vendors are coming with us.

You’ll still find the farmers, bakers, makers, growers, producers and food vendors you know and love — just in a slightly different setting for the day.

But we’re also bringing along some extras.

Bring the kids. Bring your plants. Bring your curiosity.

We’ve invited some of our kid entrepreneurs to join us for the day, giving our youngest business owners a chance to sell their creations and show off what they’ve been working on.

We’ll have a FREE Color-Your-Own Flower Bar, because flowers are better when you get to make them your own.

We’re also bringing back our second annual Plant Swap. Start propagating, taking cuttings and dividing those plants now, because this is your chance to trade a little piece of your garden with your neighbors. The plant swap is free and open to the community.

There will be special activities for kids, too, because apparently a farmers market at a college needs recess.

And then there are the trucks.

This year’s Touch-a-Truck is shaping up to be the biggest one we’ve ever done.

We’re bringing together vehicles from:

City of Woodstock
Woodstock Fire Department
McHenry County College Fire
McHenry County Division of Transportation
McHenry County Sheriff’s Department

So yes, there will be a lot of very large vehicles.

Kids can get up close, check things out and talk to the people who actually use these trucks to keep our community running. It’s one of those things that’s fun for kids and somehow equally fascinating to adults who have absolutely no excuse for knowing as much about municipal trucks as they do.

One day. One different location. Still your farmers market.

We know moving a market that has been in the same place for decades is a little weird. But we promise: the market itself hasn’t changed.

The same community.The same vendors.The same local food.The same Saturday morning ritual.

Just one day at a different address.

So mark your calendar, follow the signs, point your GPS toward McHenry County College and come spend the morning with us.

The Woodstock Farmers Market is going to college.

And don’t worry — we’ll be back at the Square the next week.