Cool autumn breezes and locally-sourced goods are still available at the Whitewater Farmers Market and City Market. The bi-weekly event plans to be around until the end of October. Since 1991, the market has been a place for vendors to endorse their products.

Karl Knuteson runs the farmer’s market, as well as selling his own products as a vendor. He began this business after his education at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point to see if he could make money from doing what he loved. This led to many opportunities for him, the market only being one of them. Knuteson explained that the social aspect and the community are what brings him back every year.

“I feel compelled to show up for the customers,” said Knuteson.

Weekly food, drink, and live music can be found at Whitewater’s City Market, which has been around since 2015. Over 30 rotating vendors seem to encourage both new and returning visitors to keep coming.     

“This is my first time at the market. We came to hear our friends play {in the band}, and we’re going back home tomorrow. This is just the coolest market. I support local markets and local farmers.” said Kathy Ihde, who visited Whitewater from Copper Harbor, Michigan. “We were supposed to go out to dinner tonight, but I’ve been eating non stop here.”

Shoppers at the markets aren’t the only ones who have said they stopped by this Whitewater attraction before living in the city. Kit Braman says she just moved to Whitewater a couple of years ago to be closer to her family. She has now been selling at the City Market for a year, though she visited before moving.

“I’m definitely getting to know people in the community a lot better. I mean, you recognize the regulars that come through every week. It’s nice to see. I like small towns. I came from a big city, so I like the small-town vibe better,” Braman said. 

Though many people come from different communities, don’t forget that both markets are Whitewater based. Many local families spend their free-time creating homemade goods. Kristie’s Creative Kitchen has been at the market for 5 years now. They offer jams, pickled items, and more. 

“All the fruits – pretty much – for the jams, we grow ourselves or we get from the local farmers. We’re trying to bring them as local as possible,” said vendor Kristie Rose. 

The Whitewater City Market is held on Tuesdays from four to six in the afternoon and the Farmer’s Market is on Saturdays from eight to twelve in the afternoon. Both go until the last week of October in the parking lot of the Depot Museum Parking Lot. Can’t make it to the market in the next few weeks? An indoor market will start on Saturdays from Nov. to April at 10 a.m. in the Irvin L Young Memorial Library.

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