With 800 active market members and 300 selling regularly per week, Eugene Saturday Market is a bustling hub of arts, crafts, and commerce. It is primarily an artisan market, and runs concurrently with the Lane County Farmers Market across the street. Started as a way to revitalize the downtown of Eugene, the market has not lost sight of its promise to serve the community. Even after its remarkable success – buyers spend approximately 2.5 million dollars on crafts per year – it remains a gathering center for locals and artisans to chat, buy, sell, and be merry.

Eugene Saturday Market first opened on May 9, 1970, in response to local artisans’ growing need for a space to sell their goods since the closing of the former market in the 1950s. This gap, along with the community’s strong desire to revitalize Eugene’s city center, led to the creation of this weekly outdoor market. The Saturday Market was spearheaded by Lotte Streisinger, who drew from his travels and experiences in South America and Europe in designing and planning Saturday Market. The market began humbly in an alley parking lot. It later relocated into a two-story parking garage before claiming its current location in a beautiful green space across from the Lane County Courthouse, in the civic and cultural center of Eugene.

Image credits: Christopher Allison via Flickr, rfduck via Flickr, Christopher Allison via Flickr

Website: http://www.eugenesaturdaymarket.org/

Twitter: @SaturdayMarket

Facebook: facebook.com/eugenesaturdaymarket