Westfield Farmers Market Accessibility

There is a lot of construction going on that may affect your route in getting to the farmers market depending on where you are coming from. There are alternate routes listed on the website at westfieldin.gov.

The Westfield Farmers Market is located at 225 S. Union Street in Grand Junction Plaza, downtown Westfield, IN. There are designated places to park and there is a shuttle that can take you from the parking lot to the corner of Park and Poplar Street where you can then enter the market.

The Westfield Farmers Market runs on Thursday evenings from May 8^th-September 4^th. The market is open from 5-8 p.m. rain or shine.

The parking for the farmers market is at the corner of Poplar and Park Streets. As far as accessibility for the parking, I did not find the designated lot to be accessible. There were no accessible parking spaces. It is a gravel lot, which made it impossible for us to push my manual wheelchair through.

The shuttle that runs from the lot to the entrance of the farmers market is a golf cart, so that is not an option for wheelchair users.

Luckily, it is only about about a 5-minute walk/roll down Park Street to get to the market.

 Along the way you will notice several charming restaurants including The Italian House, Greek’s Pizzeria, Chiba and Nyla’s to name a few. There are several great choices, many with outdoor seating. From the street, many of the restaurant’s outdoor areas seemed to be accessible. I plan to visit in the future to check this out further.

Note:

We ended up parking at the nearby public library, which was across the street from the designated parking.

Also to note, the sidewalks from the parking area to the market are narrow and have several spots where the pavement is broken up and difficult to maneuver. I would not have been able to do this without my husband’s help. There is still a lot of construction in this area, so keep that in mind.

I only noticed one accessible parking spot near the entrance to the farmers market on the street. If possible, it may work best for someone in your party to drop you off at the entrance to the market.

With nearly 60 vendors at the market, there is certainly no shortage of variety. This was my first time visiting the Westfield Farmers Market, and it did not disappoint.

Once inside the market, I found it to be a very accessible experience. The area is all paved and spacious, making wheeling around a breeze, promoting independence.

I found it easy to wheel up to each booth to check things out.

There were so many unique booths with everything from apparel, fresh produce, jewelry, candles, fresh flowers and more. Not to mention the food!

During some of the summer Thursday evening farmers markets there is live music. There are a variety of different musicians in the summer line up. The evening, I visited, Eric Zhong was playing. Eric plays the handpan which is a rare percussion instrument known for its beautiful meditative sound. It was a relaxing addition to strolling/wheeling around the market.

Within Grand Junction Plaza, there are two options for restrooms, one on each end of the plaza. The first restroom had a few stalls, with a spacious accessible stall. I was able to easily wheel under the sink to wash my hands, which is always a plus!

The restrooms on the other end of the plaza, are two individual use restrooms, both spacious and accessible.

Note: There were no accessible buttons to get into either of the restroom locations.

There were a variety of food vendors to choose from. Everything from smash burgers, pierogies, bratwursts, pies and ice cream. I also spied a tater tot nacho truck, which sounded interesting. There was a long line for that one!

In addition to the food choices in the tents, there were also food trucks, including an adorable little donut truck which had the cutest little viewing window where you could see the donuts being made.

The tents were the most accessible to wheel up to order food, with the food truck windows up higher. I feel confident the food truck vendors would be willing to accommodate you if are interested in buying food from them.

The local foods offerings were great. On the evening my husband and I visited we enjoyed a grass-fed smash-burger; and a bratwurst, both made with local meat. We also enjoyed a beverage from Bier Brewery.

Around the market there are different areas set up with tables for dining. Some of the tables were high top tables, so that did not work with my wheelchair, but there were also a few low top tables and plenty of bench seating areas to pull up to and set your food on.

Just outside of the market, there is a pedestrian bridge which leads to a playground. I was able to easily wheel across the bridge to get to that side of the plaza. If you are there with kids, there is plenty of accessible space around the playground to wheel around.

Aside from the parking situation, I would say that the Westfield Farmers Market was a very accessible experience for me. I enjoyed being able to freely wheel around without it feeling too crowded. The spacious layout of the market makes that possible.

All of the vendors were extremely pleasant and accommodating to me, helping me when needed.

I left the market with some fresh flowers in an adorable little kitty vase, cherries, blueberries, and sweet corn! I will most certainly be back to visit the Westfield Farmers Market in the future to try even more of all they have offer.

A perfect place for a pet/family friendly evening to enjoy the summer months in Hamilton County.