North Bend Farmers Market reaches 20 years at Si View Park

The summer of 2025 was the most successful season yet for the North Bend Farmers Market, a now decades-old town practice.

The market, originally started at Mount Si Senior Center, completed its 20th season at Si View Park on Sept. 11. Estimated attendance for the season was 20,000, up from 15,000 in 2024, and vendor sales hit $370,000, up from $324,000.

A lot has changed over the years, leaders said, but today, the market is steady. It has a dedicated home, a devoted customer base and an array of participating local vendors.

“The interest in participation, whether it’s for vendor space and sponsorships, all of that, has steadily grown and continues to grow,” said Minna Rudd, Si View Metro Parks recreation manager. “The fact that there’s growing interest in community support and volunteerism is a good sign.”

The market is run by the Si View Metropolitan Park District, an independent government unit — similar to a hospital or fire district — that serves 18,000 people in the upper Snoqualmie Valley. Si View is led by a five-member board of commissioners who are elected to their positions.

A customer makes a purchase from Snoqualmie Valley Candle Company at the North Bend Farmers Market, Sept. 11, 2025. Photos by Grace Gorenflo/Valley Record

Rudd said the success of farmers market can be traced back to how highly the park commission values the market and the belief that the market aligns with Si View’s mission.

“I really credit the commission for having the foresight into investing the time and effort into making sure that those kinds of considerations were put in place early on,” Rudd said, “because it has really allowed for all this growth that’s happened in the last 10 to 15 years.”

When it first moved to Si View Park, the market was inside a tennis court and there was no parking lot. Over the years, various renovations have made the park into a place that revolves around the market.

The park now has a system of pedestrian walkways, making it easier to navigate in and out of the park, as well as a path that goes around the park. The concession stand on the property is a permanent structure, allowing for easier access to permitting for events. There is a large covered picnic shelter and electricity access, perfect for live music each week.

“Very unique to a farmers market, we’re in a permanent setting where there’s a concession stand with running water and access to restrooms,” Rudd said. “That has been really instrumental in allowing us to focus on the growth and the experience for the market goers and market vendors, versus spending so much time on logistics of, how is this going to work every single week.”

Anzanga Marimba Band performs at the North Bend Farmers Market, Sept. 11, 2025. (Grace Gorenflo/Valley Record)

That is not to say the North Bend Farmers Market has not had some bumps in the road, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“By 2019, we thought we had it sort of figured out, like, OK, here’s what this will be our footprint for next year,” Rudd said. “And then the pandemic came and changed everything. “

Farmers markets were considered essential services during the pandemic, so the market did operate, but Rudd said it was not the same farmers market it had been pre-pandemic.

“We did operate through those summers, although in a much, much smaller and very different footprint and very different atmosphere,” she said. “But we were able to provide the critical food services for the communities.”

One positive product of the pandemic era is the North Bend Farmers Market’s Food Access Program, which allows market vendors to accept EBT, SNAP, WIC and Senior FMNP payments. In 2024, the market distributed $6,700 in EBT and SNAP Market Match food aid, according to the annual report.

It has taken a few years, but market manager Jill Rittenhouse and the rest of the team have re-built the market to what it was at its “peak” in 2019 — with the help of loyal community members.

Panda Dim Sum serves up food to customers at the North Bend Farmers Market, Sept. 11, 2025.

“[Another] thing that the pandemic changed to some degree is the unwavering community support,” Rudd said. “They have always been supportive of the farmers market, no doubt, but coming here really purposely, intentionally, making a trip every week, even when we only had 10 to 15 vendors, and everyone was 10 to 15 feet apart.”

That support was evident also in a community survey sent out last year. The survey informed the Si View Metro Parks 2025 Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) plan, which will guide the organization’s work for the next 6 to 10 years.

According to survey results, the farmers market is a high priority for residents. Rudd and Rittenhouse said they aren’t looking to necessarily grow the market but would like to keep finding new ways to draw people in.

“That’s been sort of a goal for me in the last few years, is to really build upon a diversity of the concerts and the diversity of our market vendors, so that it isn’t the same thing every week,” Rittenhouse said, “so people have a reason to come and discover something new and different.”

Rittenhouse said deciding which vendors are at the market each week is a delicate balance. Not only does she want to keep things interesting for customers, but she also has to adhere to the requirements given by the Washington State Farmers Market Association, which the North Bend Farmers Market is a member of.

The association requires that total farmer sales must be greater than the combined gross sales of processors and resellers. Additionally, all farmer, processor and reseller sales must be greater than artisan and prepared food sales.

“The mission stays supporting our local farming and agriculture, and our prepared food, our processed food vendors that are using those agricultural products to make their jams and jellies and breads and things like that,” Rittenhouse said. “I feel very strongly about upholding that.”

Aside from strong turnout, signs of market success include a growing number of applicants, volunteers and participating nonprofits, Rudd said.

Fresh hummus and pita are for sale from The Mediterranean at the North Bend Farmers Market, Sept. 11, 2025. (Grace Gorenflo/Valley Record)

Looking forward

Looking forward, Rittenhouse has a few goals. She wants to implement more themed market days — a growing trend in the market scene, she said. She also wants to continue diversifying the artists she books for weekly concerts, as well as grow sponsorships to help pay for those concerts.

“The purpose is creating a venue for a lot of different ways people can feel engaged,” she said. “It could be that their children are playing at the park, which has been such a blessing to have two different playground spaces. And people will come and they’ll buy food and they’ll shop the vendors, go and sit with their children while they’re playing, then they’ll go in the middle of the park and watch the concert … It just becomes a weekly event.”

The sweet spot for weekly vendors is somewhere between 36 and 42, Rittenhouse said. Week-to-week, the number won’t be consistent, as it is dependent on who those vendors are, she said.

“It really depends on who that 42 is because of the footprint, because electricity drives our food vendors and because our farmers need shade so their product or their food doesn’t melt,” she said, “but yet, I still need to have vendors that are supplying really interesting and diverse artisan products.”

The 2025 season included 82 vendors, including 11 farmers, 15 processed food vendors, nine prepared food vendors and 24 artisan craft vendors.

There were also 20 participating nonprofits and three youth vendors, a program that allows youth to trial a business idea in a supportive environment. The market is working to grow community engagement and partnerships, Rudd and Rittenhouse said.

A bike at the North Bend Farmers Market, Sept. 11, 2025. Visitors are encouraged to walk or bike to the market when possible. (Grace Gorenflo/Valley Record)

In 2023, the market launched the Power of Produce Club, a program that allows children to have hands-on experiences with farmers and learn about local agriculture. Each week brings different activities that teach children a variety of topics, from bee pollination to mushroom communication.

Participants get market tokens that they can use to “purchase” their own produce. In 2024, participants “purchased” more than $1,650 of produce over six weeks.

“It brings families here, so that the kids can engage,” Rittenhouse said. “They feel like they have purpose, and they love to spend their [token].”

Rittenhouse, who started five years ago, balances many things as the market manager — a year-round job that includes many hats. But her measurements of success come down to North Bend Farmers Market’s mission: “to promote lifelong healthy living, greater sense of community, provide farmers and artisans an outlet to sell their products and encourage local business development.”

“My core purpose is to make sure that we are following through on that,” she said, “and then we’re obviously making this an enjoyable, professional, safe environment so that people can trust in what they’re going to experience.”