The Cabbagetown Farmers Market in Riverdale Park West on Tuesdays

On Tuesday afternoons from spring into autumn, a line of stalls goes up on the grass of Riverdale Park West, right outside the gates of Riverdale Farm. People finishing a visit to the farm drift across, others come down from the side streets after work, and for a few hours the edge of the valley works as the neighbourhood’s market square.

The market trades as the Cabbagetown Farmers Market. Many people still call it the Riverdale farmers’ market or the market in Riverdale Park, after where it stands, and both names point to the same place.

When the market runs

For 2026, Farmers’ Markets Ontario lists the season as May 12 to October 20, on Tuesdays from 3 pm to 7 pm. The market’s own website still shows the 2025 season, May 20 to October 28 from 2:30 pm to 6:30 pm, so the two sources differ by half an hour. Either way the pattern is late spring through the end of October, and the organizers are the ones to ask before a special trip.

Afternoon hours suit the setting. The farm closes at 5 pm, so the market overlaps with the last part of the farm day and then carries on into the early evening, when people come home from work.

Where to find it

The stalls stand in Riverdale Park West, just outside the gates of Riverdale Farm, close to the corner of Winchester and Sumach Streets. The Riverdale Park page explains the layout of the park around it.

From Parliament Street the walk is straightforward: head east along Winchester Street past the Victorian row houses, and keep going until the street ends at the park. The Toronto Necropolis gate is at the same corner, which makes the market an easy stop on the heritage walk if you time it for a Tuesday afternoon.

What to expect

The market presents itself as fresh and local, and its own motto is “grow it, make it, share it”, and the mix of stalls follows what is in season over the months the market runs.

It is a neighbourhood market rather than a destination food hall, and that is its charm. A visit takes half an hour unless you stop to talk. The organizers also take applications from musicians, so some afternoons come with live music on the grass.

A practical aside: bring a bag, and do not count on every vendor taking the same kind of payment. The market’s site does not list payment methods, and small vendors differ.

A few tips for a first visit

Arrive early if there is something particular you want. A small market with seasonal stock can sell out of a popular item before the end of the afternoon, and the first hour is the calmest time to talk to the people behind the tables. Arrive late, around five, if you would rather combine the market with the walk home from work; in the 2026 listing the stalls stay open until 7 pm.

Bring cash as a back-up and a reusable bag, and if you plan to buy anything heavy, remember that the walk back to Parliament Street runs uphill along Winchester. Cyclists will find the park paths easy; drivers will find parking harder, since the market sits at the end of a residential street.

If you come with a dog, keep in mind that dogs are not allowed inside Riverdale Farm next door, even though the park around the market has an off-leash area. Plan the order of the afternoon around that.

The setting: a market on the old zoo grounds

The patch of park where the market stands has a longer history than most market sites in the city. The slope above it was the Riverdale Zoo, which the City of Toronto dates from 1894 to 1974. When the zoo moved to Scarborough, the grounds became Riverdale Farm, which opened on September 9, 1978. The market now sets up on the doorstep of that farm, so a Tuesday visit takes in both: the heritage-breed animals inside the gates, and local produce outside them.

Riverdale Park itself is older still. The City bought land from the Scadding farm in 1856 and opened the rest as a public park in 1880. The market is a recent arrival in comparison, but it fits the place well: a working farm, a public park and a weekly market, all within sight of each other at the end of a residential street.

If the weather turns, there is little shelter on the grass. The farm’s buildings, including the Meeting House with its washrooms, are open until 5 pm, which is worth knowing on a showery afternoon.

Why a Tuesday market works here

Markets on weekday afternoons live or die by their neighbourhood, and this one has an unusual advantage: it sits between a free farm that is open every day and a residential district whose streets lead down to it. People who came for the animals find the stalls on the way out; people coming home from work find them at the end of their street. The park provides the space, the farm provides the crowd, and the market provides the reason to stay a little longer.

It also gives the valley edge a rhythm it would not otherwise have. On Tuesdays in season, the end of Winchester Street stays busy well into the early evening.

Pairing the market with the rest of the neighbourhood

The market works best as part of a longer afternoon. Start at the farm in the early afternoon, cross to the market when it opens, then walk back up through the side streets toward Parliament Street, where the cafés and restaurants are. The seasonal activities page lists what else is on in Cabbagetown through the year, and the places page gathers every stop nearby.