The Saturday market had its last morning on N. River Street on October 17. It has one more outdoor day, this Saturday, on a different street and with different hours. A week after that it moves indoors for the winter, into a brewery in a building from 1880. In those two weeks the market passes the downtown riverfront project that finished this year and leaves behind the one that hasn't.
Here are the next three Saturdays, with the locations Batavia MainStreet has published:
- October 17, done. Last River Street morning of the 32nd season, 8 a.m. to noon, between Wilson and Spring Streets.
- October 24, this Saturday. Final outdoor market, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Houston Street and the parking lot near Peg Bond Center, during BatFest.
- October 31 onward. Indoor Market, 9 a.m. to noon, at Sturdy Shelter Brewing, 10 S. Shumway Ave., every Saturday through May 8, 2027.
If you have shopped the 8 a.m. opening all season, you have new hours to learn. This Saturday starts two hours later and ends two hours later. The indoor market starts at 9 and still ends at noon.
This Saturday, the market sets up beside the parade
The October 24 market is on Houston Street because that is where BatFest is based. Batavia MainStreet bills it as a free Halloween family event and expects more than 5,000 people. Farm stands share the area around Peg Bond Center, 151 Island Ave., with the parade line-up, festival booths and two costume contests.
For a market shopper, what matters is how the day is laid out. Here is the published schedule, starting from the market:
| Time | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 9:30 a.m. | Parade line-up, with games and music by Funway | Houston Street & Island Avenue |
| 10 a.m. | Parade steps off as the market opens | South on Houston, west on Wilson, north on N. Water |
| 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Final Farmers' Market of the season | Houston Street and lot near Peg Bond Center |
| 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | BatFest booths | In front of Peg Bond Center, Peace Plaza, and Appleton Park behind City Hall |
| 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Pumpkin Roll by Scouts BSA Troop 6 | Houston Street & Batavia Avenue |
| 10 a.m. to noon | Downtown trick-or-treating | 60+ businesses |
| 12:15 p.m. | Costume contest | Peg Bond Center |
| 12:45 p.m. | Pet costume contest, sponsored by Fat Sam's for Pets | Peg Bond Center |
The parade leaves from the same corner where the market sets up, and the route starts south on Houston Street. If you want to shop before the crowds arrive, wait until the parade has moved down Wilson. Trick-or-treating ends at noon. The market and the booths keep going until 2.
The rest of downtown is part of the event too. Water Street Studios has a make-and-take craft. Dirty Clay Co. is holding a Thrown-a-Thon pottery event. Tabletop Game Shop has Incredible Bats. Rosewood Farm & Market has games and Halloween pastries, and Bocaditos Cafe has a mobile sandbox from Whimsy Diggers plus themed desserts and drinks from 11 to 1:30. The Batavia High School National Art Honor Society is painting a photo-op mural on N. River Street. That puts BatFest on the market's usual block, one week after the stands left it.
Peace Plaza is new this year
One of the three BatFest booth areas is Peace Plaza, and it didn't exist a year ago.
It came with the Peace Bridge ramp. The City of Batavia describes that project as an ADA-compliant ramp on the east side of the Fox River, near North River and State Streets. It connects the lower Fox River Trail to the Peace Bridge, where the only access used to be stairs. The Kane County Chronicle reported in April 2025 that the city awarded construction to V3 Companies for $2,579,820 and the electrical work to Electric Conduit Construction Co. for $543,988, with TIF funding covering the cost.
A city progress update from October 17, 2025 planned the final concrete pour for the first week of November, with finishing work in early 2026. By the July 14, 2026 Committee of the Whole meeting, staff reported that the ribbon-cutting had happened. They also reported the dedication of Peace Plaza, which has a peace pole donated by the local Rotary Club, according to a meeting recap on the Batavia 5th Ward blog. On September 29, a motion recommending to the City Council an ordinance that transfers ownership of the ramp to the Batavia Park District passed without opposition. The agreement includes a maintenance easement for the ramp wall next to a temporary city parking lot.
Not every page has caught up yet. The rules section of the market page still puts the Free Speech Zone in the plaza in front of City Hall, on the west side of the river. It says that arrangement applies "during construction of the Peace Bridge Ramp Project." So the ramp is finished, but that note on the page is still in place.
The plaza on the market's own block is still fenced
The ramp had its ribbon-cutting by mid-July. The project on the market's own block missed the whole season.
The North River Street Plaza is going up on the former Tin Shop site. The city's plans call for accessible paving, landscaping, seating, bike repair facilities, public art, native plantings and a self-cleaning public restroom. In March 2026 the council approved a sitework contract with Landmark Contractors capped at $618,000 and funded through TIF District 3. At the time, the city said it aimed to open the plaza "as early as possible in 2026."
Work began in April. By early June, the Kane County Chronicle reported that the restroom unit had been delivered while the rest of the plaza was still under construction. At the October 13 Committee of the Whole meeting, staff said the automated washrooms work but the buildout still needs supplies. The city is also enforcing liquidated damages against a fencing subcontractor over long installation delays, according to the Batavia 5th Ward blog's recap. No opening date has been announced.
This means the plaza won't host a market Saturday until May at the earliest. The outdoor season ran from May 16 to October 17, and the plaza wasn't open for any of it. When River Street vendors return next spring, they will set up beside a plaza with seating and a public restroom. This year's market didn't have either.
October 31: the market moves into the old Opera House
The winter version of the market moves to Sturdy Shelter Brewing at 10 S. Shumway Ave. The building went up in 1880 as Batavia's Opera House and was later used as a theater and other commercial space. Sturdy Shelter opened there in 2022, according to a history of 10 S. Shumway published by Kluber. The brewery is already part of this Saturday's BatFest, hosting the Little Rebels Glam Bar from 10 to 2.
This is the market's second winter there. The 2025–26 Indoor Market also ran Saturdays at Sturdy Shelter, from November 1, 2025 through May 9, 2026. This year it starts a day earlier on the calendar, on October 31, and runs through May 8, 2027.
Here's what changes, and what doesn't, when the market moves inside:
- Hours: 9 a.m. to noon, compared with 8 to noon outdoors.
- Pets: Not allowed at the Indoor Market. Well-behaved, leashed pets were welcome on River Street.
- What's for sale: Produce, baked goods, plants, honey and related farm products. Vendors still have to grow, harvest or produce at least 75 percent of what they sell.
- SNAP: Accepted indoors too, along with LINK Match, an Experimental Station program that doubles SNAP dollars spent on fresh fruits and vegetables. Look for the Batavia MainStreet information table.
- Vendor lists: MainStreet posts each week's lineup on the market's Instagram and Facebook pages.
The Artisan Collective doesn't move indoors. Its six third-Saturday dates ended October 17, the same day as the last River Street morning.
After the market moves inside, events shift to the river
Through November, the big downtown evenings take place along the river, in and around the spaces that changed this year. Batavia MainStreet's Holiday Lantern Walk is Friday, November 13, from 5 to 9 p.m. New for 2026 is a $25 adult wine ticket good for twelve one-ounce pours at participating downtown businesses, and a holiday trolley will run that night. On Sunday, November 29, the Batavia Park District's Celebration of Lights runs from 5 to 7 p.m. at Peg Bond Center and the Riverwalk, 151 N. Island Ave. The program includes Santa, a tree lighting, reindeer, hayrides and a lane of 35 decorated trees.
Celebration of Lights is set up around Peg Bond Center, the same spot where the market spends its last outdoor day. The new ramp, a short walk away, is on its way to Park District ownership. Of this year's riverfront projects, the N. River Street plaza is the only one without an opening date.
If you'd like to talk about what being close to downtown and the Fox River is worth for your own home, the Tamara O'Connor Team can put together a free home valuation using recent Fox Valley sales.
