(rdnewsNOW/ Ian Gustafson)

By Ian Gustafson

Farmers market

Red Deer Public Market returns for 55th season

May 17, 2025 | 2:39 PM

The Red Deer Market has officially returned for the season.

On Saturday, despite cool and rainy weather, central Albertans showed up for the first day of the market at Red Deer Polytechnic, which is set to run every Saturday morning until Oct. 11.

Patrick Moffat, who co-organizes the annual event with his sister Fiona, said it’s great to be back.

“We always look forward to it… It always seems like a long time coming until the day finally gets here and it came quick,” he said.

“It’s been great to see some old faces and some new faces. It’s always good and the people here are great.”

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The market began as an idea in the early 1970s by Dennis Moffat and it started with just 18 vendors. Now, this year they expect more than 100, although they had 86 on opening day because of the weather. The numbers have slowly came back since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moffat explained they have 10 more vendors to start the year than they did in 2024.

“We’ll have more as the produce start to grow because this is Alberta, it doesn’t come out of the ground until July or July,” he said.

“We’ve had people move out of the city and start their own farms and now they’re coming to the market, which is cool to see.”

It’s also been a hit with everyone who’s stopped by over the years. He explained people have spread the word about the market and had people visit from Germany last year.

“It brings joy. It started slowly but it’s grown and it’s only taken 55 years,” he laughed. “We have word of mouth and people who’ve come from all over the world to visit us. I think that’s an amazing thing, especially for Red Deer.”

Moffat explained as the world continues to change, it becomes more important to shop and support local businesses. The best way to do that is at local farmers markets.

“That’s the message I’m getting this year is let’s shop local, buy local, and be local. We should be supporting that.”