Who we are:
Red River Market creates a space for all people to experience the joys of locally grown food.
Red River Market strives to support local farms and new and emerging food businesses, to increase access to fresh, locally grown produce, to be a good steward of the planet, and to create a sense of place where all are welcome.
The Red River Market was established by a group of volunteers in the spring of 2015 because of two key issues: the lack of a centrally located, accessible place to access locally grown food, and the lack of shared public space in the Fargo Moorhead community. Since 2015, the Red River Market has grown from 800 to 8,000 weekly attendees.
Red River Market in 2019 at The Forum
The Red River Market highlights and supports local musicians and cultural performers by providing the community with one of the only free, all-ages live performance stages. Each year, the market books 80 paid musical and cultural performances featuring 225 local performers ranging from the FM Opera to FM Kicks Jazz Band.
Red River Market in its first season in 2015.
The Red River Market educates its visitors on seasonal and local eating by providing two educational cooking demonstrations per market day with local chefs and dietitians. Each cooking demonstration uses ingredients purchased from our market vendors and provides visitors a recipe card with a shopping list. All of the cooking demonstrations are free, openly accessible on our main stage, and at a time and day when families are able to attend together.
Red River Market on Opening Day in 2021 at Broadway Square
The market creates a platform to provide exposure for local non-profit organizations working to solve key issues in the community. Each market day, two non-profit organizations are featured to share their mission with the community at interactive informational booths. The organizations interact with visitors by providing educational family programming.
Red River Market through the years
The Red River Market is a project of Folkways. Folkways is a community building and placemaking non profit that creates experiences to connect community and instill a sense of belonging. In addition to paid staff, over 100 volunteers provided 200 hours of service each year to fill roles on event day.
