Downtown Littleton is joining other Denver areas with a weekend farmers market, offering fresh local food, music and a chance to bump into neighbors.
The market will take place on South Nevada Street, just north of Main Street, on the first and third Sundays of the month from May through October. It will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Two Littleton residents joined forces to start the event. Their goal is to build an inclusive community, support small businesses and create more equitable access to fresh food in the area.
“I’m excited to see people build connections with vendors and neighbors in a really tangible way, and then start to see our city as something that can be a little bit more for everybody,” said Keely Quinn, who works in communications and founded the event on the side.
In the past, Quinn ran a baking business and used to sell her goods at farmers markets.
The farmers market is an initiative of a nonprofit Quinn recently started, LittletonQ+. It focuses on highlighting Littleton’s diversity, including through LGBTQ+-focused events, small business events and others.
Quinn connected with Tiffany Norton, who owns Juniperseed Mercantile, a sustainable personal care product and refill store in Littleton. The two brainstormed ideas for inclusive local events. Norton, who has been a vendor at farmers markets for about five years, thought downtown Littleton would be a good place for one. The two are also involved in the citizens’ group Vibrant Littleton, which Quinn said supports the idea of a farmers market.
Although there is an existing farmers market on Wednesdays in Aspen Grove, Quinn and Norton wanted a weekend market to give more working residents the option to visit.
Littleton joins more than a score of communities in the Front Range with active farmers markets. Quinn said having one closer to home would give the opportunity for many Littleton residents to walk and bike there.
Littleton’s vendors include:
- Ellson Farms
- Golden Sourdough
- Littleton Meats
- Meat Sweats
- Fox Fungi
- Cencalli Taqueria
- Rocking HC Eggs
- Grand Valley Country Market
- Lani Belle Honey LLC
- Moonlit VVitch
- On the Fence Kombucha
Quinn said they decided to focus the market on food instead of handicrafts in order to reduce competition with storefronts downtown. They hope for the market to bring more customers to local businesses.
“We want that to help infuse more business into the existing businesses that are in the area,” she said.
There will be no food trucks at the market so people are encouraged to dine downtown, Quinn said. Cencalli Taqueria, a restaurant on Main Street, will have a booth offering breakfast burritos.
To support Littleton businesses, Quinn said she and Norton will waive the $50 season registration fee for Littleton merchants to host booths at the market.
LittletonQ+ asks vendors to pay 10% of their sales from each event to help support the organization, but offers flexibility. If vendors feel comfortable paying more or less to maintain their margins, Quinn and Norton are happy to discuss other options.
A bluegrass band will perform at the market. A free community yoga class is also planned for the first hour of each event.
Quinn said the market, at its core, is about community and supporting small, local businesses. Gathering in a small area for limited hours on a specific day gives people the opportunity to run into their neighbors, she said. These “organic connections” can “help bridge social gaps.”
She said she is excited to support local farmers and food producers who are working hard to earn a living, and hopes the market can give people a chance to eat fresher foods.
“Bringing fresh produce into a more central location helps to create some equity,” Quinn said. “Littleton is not a food desert by any means, but having an additional touch point of access, I think is really great.”
Links to sign up to volunteer or register as a vendor are available at littletonq.com.