In 1976, someone rang a bell on Court Avenue at 7 a.m. and fifteen vendors set up for about 200 shoppers. This year, that same bell opened the market's 51st season: twelve blocks wide, 306 vendors deep, with an estimated 28,000 people moving through it before noon. If you live downtown or in the East Village, you already know this. What you might not know is that the parking lot you used to park in for free is gone, and across town, a completely different Saturday market has been running the whole time.
Most people who shop the Downtown Farmers' Market treat it as the only game in town. That was a reasonable assumption for years. It's a worse one this season, and the reason has nothing to do with vendors or produce. It has to do with where you're allowed to leave your car.
What Actually Changed on Court Avenue This Year
The 2026 season kicked off May 2 with numbers that made the market feel bigger than ever: 306 vendors spread across 12 blocks from Fifth Street to Water Street, with additional rows along Second Avenue, Third Street, Fourth Street, and Fifth Avenue. Forty-three of those vendors are new this year. Twenty-two are part of Spark DSM, the Greater Des Moines Partnership's small-business incubator program that gives first-time vendors event access and a support system before they're running a booth on their own. Forty-five entertainers are booked across the season. The bell still rings at 7 a.m., same as always, shifting to an 8 a.m. start once October arrives.
None of that is the story locals need this year. The story is what happened to parking.
The city approved metering on the bridges that cross the Des Moines River, spots that used to be a quiet overflow option for early arrivals. Around the same time, the parking garage that used to belong to Wells Fargo changed hands and went private, which means it now charges where it didn't before. If you've been parking in either of those spots out of habit, that habit costs money now. The one dependable alternative that's held steady is the Terrus Real Estate Group ramp at the southeast corner of Second and Court, and street parking downtown is still free, but only until 9 a.m. on Saturdays. Arrive at 8:45 and you're fine. Arrive at 9:15 expecting the same deal and you're feeding a meter.
That's a real cost shift for anyone who treats the Saturday market as a standing routine rather than an occasional outing, and it's the kind of detail that doesn't show up in a generic market guide because it only matters if you're the one circling the block looking for a spot that used to be free.
The Market Across Town Nobody Mentions in the Same Breath
Here's the part that surprised me putting this together: while Court Avenue was adding vendors and losing free parking, the Des Moines Waterfront Farmers Market opened its 21st season at the Marina on June 6, running Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It's a nonprofit market, smaller in footprint, built around live music and a slower pace than the Court Avenue crush. It is not a version of the downtown market. It's a different event entirely, run by a different organization, on a different clock, in a different part of the city.
This year it's dealing with its own disruption. A city stairway project has pushed the market into the west half of the north marina parking lot instead of its usual footprint. Parking is still available in what's left of the north lot, plus space near the Quarterdeck and in the south lot, and the market runs a free shuttle continuously from the south lot for anyone who doesn't want to hunt for a closer spot. It's a workaround, but it's a workaround that still gets you parked without a meter running.
If you've only ever shopped Court Avenue, you've been arriving during the one window when both markets are open at the same time and only checking one of them.
That overlap is worth sitting with. Downtown runs 7 a.m. to noon. The Marina runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For two hours, both markets are open simultaneously, in the same city, and most people never clock that the second one exists because the marketing for each one stays entirely in its own lane. Downtown promotes itself as the market. The Marina promotes itself to the people who already know to look for it.
Two Markets, Side by Side
| Downtown Farmers' Market | Des Moines Waterfront Farmers Market | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Court Avenue, 5th St. to Water St. | Des Moines Marina, north lot |
| Hours | 7 a.m. to noon (8 a.m. start starting in October) | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| Season | 51st year, opened May 2, runs through Oct. 31 | 21st year, opened June 6 |
| Scale | 306 vendors, 12 blocks, an estimated 28,000 shoppers weekly | Smaller footprint, live music, nonprofit-run |
| 2026 disruption | Metered bridge parking, privatized former Wells Fargo garage | City stairway project shifted the market within its lot |
| Parking workaround | Terrus Real Estate Group ramp at 2nd and Court, free street parking until 9 a.m. | Free continuous shuttle from the south lot |
The two markets aren't competing for the same shopper. They're serving two different moods on the same morning, and this year the cost of getting to one of them just went up while the other found a way to keep parking free.
What Extends Past October
Downtown's season ends October 31. If your Saturday routine is built entirely around Court Avenue, that's the last weekend of it until next spring. The Waterfront Farmers Market has a couple of dates on the calendar that stretch the season further than most people realize:
- Dog Day, September 5 — a market Saturday built around bringing your dog along, registration handled through the market's own site.
- Holiday Market, November 7 — held at Des Moines Beach Park, a week after Court Avenue has already closed for the year.
There's also a new kids' activity running every Saturday for the rest of the season, a hidden bobble-head scavenger hunt sponsored by Yoshiko Grace Matsui, with a healthy treat waiting at the info booth for whoever finds it. It's a small thing, but it's the kind of detail that tells you this market has its own identity and its own community rhythm rather than existing as a smaller sibling to the one downtown.
The Actual Takeaway
If you've spent years assuming the Downtown Farmers' Market is the only Saturday market worth your time, this is the year to test that assumption. Not because Court Avenue got worse. It didn't. It got bigger, with more new vendors and more entertainment than in past seasons. But it also got more expensive to reach if you're used to parking for free, and the alternative across town has been sitting there for two decades with a shuttle system, a quieter footprint, and a fall calendar that outlasts downtown's by a full week.
Des Moines doesn't have one Saturday market. It has two, running on staggered clocks, and the choice between them just got a little more interesting than it used to be.
This is exactly the kind of neighborhood texture we love tracking at Megan Mitchum + CO, whether it's a new market detail or the small shifts that shape what it actually feels like to live somewhere day to day. If you're thinking about a move into downtown Des Moines or any of the surrounding communities and want a guide who already knows where the parking gets tight on a Saturday morning, reach out. We're happy to talk neighborhoods, markets, and everything in between.
