Lafayette farmers market opens May 3

Farmers markets are usually a feel-good spring story. Fresh greens. First strawberries. Kids with pastries. But this one comes with a harder edge. Lafayette’s farmers market is opening its second season on Sunday, May 3, with 85 vendors, chef demos, and a bigger footprint in downtown — right as some Colorado growers are talking about frost damage, hail, thin water supplies, and a rough start to the year. ### What’s actually opening this weekend? The Lafayette Farmers Market runs Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through October 25 on two blocks of Public Road between Cleveland and Geneseo. It’s still a young market — this is only season two — but the pitch is pretty clear: keep it producer-focused, keep it local, and make downtown Lafayette a place where people meet the people growing their food. ### Why does “second season” matter? Because year two is when you find out whether a new market is a novelty or an institution. The organizers, Peter and Margo Wanberg, already had experience with Denver’s City Park Farmers Market, and they’ve been trying to build the Lafayette version as more than a row of booths — basically as food infrastructure for the town. That means regular shoppers, repeat vendors, and enough showing up. ### How big is it this year? The public-facing number depends on where you look. The market’s own site says 2026 will feature 80-plus food-focused businesses, while the Daily Camera story says 85 vendors are lined up for opening. Either way, the direction is obvious — more growers, more prepared food, and more specialty producers than the launch year. That matters because variety is what turns a once-a-month stop into a weekly habit. ### Why bring in a chef? Because shoppers don’t always know what to do with what’s in season. A cooking demo closes that gap fast. Chris Royster from Flagstaff House is scheduled to headline a demo on May 17, which gives the market a way to turn ingredients into ideas — not just “here’s asparagus,” but “here’s dinner.” It’s also a crowd-builder, and markets need traffic as much as farmers need field time. ### So what’s going wrong for growers? The catch is that a market can only sell what farms can bring. This spring has already been uneven for some Colorado producers. Ela Family Farms, one of the market vendors, says it won’t start in Lafayette until June, when fruit is ready, and the broader coverage around the market points to weather and water stress already changing what shows up on tables, and when. ### Does that mean shoppers will notice? Probably, yes — but not always as empty stalls. More often it shows up as timing shifts, smaller volumes, or missing items. A farm that usually arrives with a full spread may come later in the season or bring less. That’s one reason the market leans so hard into a mix of ranchers, bakers, prepared-food vendors, and specialty producers. Diversity makes the whole thing less brittle. ### Why does this matter beyond one market? Because farmers markets are one of the few places where the local food economy is visible in real time. If farms have a good year, you see abundance. If they get hit by frost or water problems, you see that too. Lafayette’s market is trying to grow at the exact moment that growing food in Colorado looks less predictable. That makes every successful Sunday a little more important than it sounds. ### Bottom line? The market opening on May 3 is the upbeat part. The harder truth is that the same event is also a live test of how resilient local farms are in a tough season. If shoppers show up — and keep showing up — that helps turn community enthusiasm into actual support.