Ross Faris was the founder and original Market vendor with his Your Neighbor’s Garden.
The Broad Ripple Farmers Market got its start in 1994 when Ross Faris came to Peter George, (owner of Peter’s restaurant across from Keystone at the Crossing), with a dilemma. Ross was supplying Peter with produce but could not sustain it alone. Peter’s restaurant and farmers market experience in South Bend made him appreciate the importance of establishing a market to support local farmers in Indianapolis. So, he offered to host a farmers market at the restaurant on Saturday mornings. Ross reached out to local farmers and the market took shape.
John Hill and Joann Kavanaugh of Broad Ripple became aware of the market and felt that a farmers market would be a great asset to their community. They reached out to see if the farmers would also serve Broad Ripple. And so that those farmers didn’t have to choose between two markets, Peter decided to close down the one at the restaurant. He was happy to have a thriving farmers market in the northside community.
In 1996 the Broad Ripple Farmers Market set up shop at John Hill’s Broad Ripple BrewPub. Over the years as the Market grew, it moved to Broad Ripple Station, the Indianapolis Art Center and then to Broad Ripple High School, where it remained until COVID struck in 2019. Luckily, we were able to finish out the 2019 season with pre-order pickups at Broad Ripple Station; and Kite allowed us to use the remote parking lot at Glendale in 2020. The apartment buildout behind Glendale in 2021 meant another move, this time to Second Presbyterian Church on Meridian where we stayed for 2 years until their church activities bounced back post COVID.
From 2006-2019 the Market was located behind Broad Ripple High School.
For 2023, Lowe’s Corporate office was willing to consider letting us use the portion of the Glendale remote lot that belonged to them and was not part of the Kite property purchased for apartments. We had a very successful season with great support from the local store management team. Things went well enough that we were allowed to use the space again in 2024 and are hopeful that we can continue using it until we have a permanent home at Broad Ripple Park sometime in the future.
Here is the Summer venue history:
- 1994: Peter George’s Restaurant, 8501 Keystone Crossing
- 1995-1998: Broad Ripple Brewpub, 842 E. 65th Street
- 1999-2004: Broad Ripple Station, 1075 Broad Ripple Avenue
- 2005: Indianapolis Art Center, 820 E. 67th
- 2006-2019: Broad Ripple High School, 1115 Broad Ripple Avenue
- 2020: Glendale, 6001 Rural Street (moved due to pandemic)
- 2021-2022: Second Presbyterian Church, 7700 N. Meridian Street
- 2023-current: Glendale Lowe’s, 6001 Rural Street
The indoor Winter Market was started in 2016 at Liter House/Half Liter and due to Covid, moved in 2020 to the Glendale Town Center. By adding the Winter Market that operates November through April, The BRFM became one of the few year-round farmers markets in the state, and the only one in central Indiana.
The Summer Market remains food-focused, as it was originally, and has grown to over 90 full and part-time vendors. Peak attendance at the Summer Market is over 4000 customers!
