Wychwood Market, known affectionately by locals as the “community food centre,” is more than just a marketplace. It is also an active platform for local residents to regularly interact in a safe and comfortable setting. Along with plentiful indoor space for relaxing and mingling, the market’s outdoor plaza with movable furniture is especially popular during the summertime, when locals can enjoy basking under the sun to a backdrop of live music and street performances. Bringing community members together and providing learning opportunities for both young and old, other public programs at the market include basic social services. Regular saturday market shoppers often arrive on foot or by bike, and there is ample bike parking and bike sharing stations. Streetcars, located a block away, also make the market easily accessible. Wychwood Market has had a huge role in the revitalization of the Barns, and it has become a much-loved community resource and cultural hub.

Located in Wychwood Barns, a former complex of streetcar sheds constructed in the 1920s, Wychwood Market is a one-stop-shop for all kinds of fresh produce and artisanal goods. Opened in 2008, the market was part of a community-driven adaptive reuse and revitalization project, led by the not-for-profit organization Artscape, which introduced numerous cultural and community resources to the area. Operating year-round and focusing on local, sustainable, and organic products, Wychwood Market serves community residents as well as visitors from all across Toronto. Local artists who live and work in the Barns contribute handmade art and crafts to the market fare. A trip to Wychwood Market is a weekly affair for area residents, many of whom spend their Saturdays shopping, enjoying artwork, and being entertained by the musicians and performers at the Barns.

Image credits, from left: Ian Irving via Wikimedia Commons, Ian Irving via Wikimedia Commons, The Nest

Website: www.thestop.org

Twitter: @wychwoodbarns, @BrickWorksMkt