Kingston Farmers Market & Artisan Market Guide: The Full Season Calendar

Kingston has one of the strongest farmers markets in the entire Hudson Valley — and I'm not saying that because it's convenient. I'm saying that because I've been to markets in Rhinebeck, Beacon, Cold Spring, and Woodstock, and none of them have the depth of vendor variety, the consistency of attendance, or the sheer Saturday-morning energy that Kingston pulls off every single week from spring through fall.

The Kingston Farmers Market operates outdoors every Saturday, 9 AM to 1 PM, rain or shine, at the Ulster County Courthouse plaza in Uptown Kingston (285 Wall Street). That location matters — it's the geographic and cultural center of Uptown, which means you can pair your market morning with a coffee from one of the neighborhood cafes, a walk through the Stockade District galleries, or a stop at one of the antique shops on North Front Street. The market draws over 50 local farms and food vendors at peak season, which is a number that's hard to overstate. When you walk through those rows on a July Saturday, you're looking at produce from the entire Ulster County agricultural belt.

The season runs outdoor market from early May through late November, then transitions to an indoor winter market that runs bi-weekly on Saturdays from December through April. The indoor market is smaller — it's held in a heated space — but it keeps the community connected through the off-season with preserved goods, baked items, root vegetables, and the vendors who can bring product year-round.

What you'll find at peak season is almost overwhelming in its variety. Fresh vegetables from multiple farms, each with their own specialties — one known for heirloom tomatoes, another for greens, a third for root vegetables. Fruit vendors selling Hudson Valley apples, berries, and stone fruit in season. Bread from local bakers. Cheese from farms in the Catskills. Eggs and poultry from small flocks. Honey from beekeepers who'll tell you which flowers the bees were visiting when they made it. Cut flowers that make your grocery-store bouquet look like a compromise.

But what really sets Kingston apart is the artisan side. There are vendors selling hand-thrown pottery, forged knives, leather goods, woodworking, and small-batch preserves. There's a vendor making vodka from organic corn and gin from New York grapes. Another selling applejack from Hudson Valley apples. You'll find prepared foods — tamales, empanadas, soup, fresh pasta — that could easily be breakfast, lunch, and a gift to take home all at once.

The market also takes food access seriously. They accept SNAP/EBT, and there's a matching program that doubles your benefits for produce purchases — which means a $10 SNAP swipe gets you $20 worth of fresh food. That's not a small thing. It's a statement about who the market is for.