Mission Statement:

Focusing on local food security through sustainable agriculture & healthy food choices.

Celina Farmers Market was started in 2006 by a small group of merchants who wanted to draw shoppers to Celina’s downtown on Saturday mornings. Vendors set up tents at Courthouse Square along Main St. during the summer months. The market started with about 5 vendors & remained that size for 6 years.

In 2012, a market steering committee was formed to develop the market. A website was created in 2013, & Facebook & Instagram accounts were started later that year. Once social media was engaged, the market began to grow, attracting vendors & shoppers from surrounding communities.

By 2018, the market was big enough to allow us to use a professional online market management service, Manage My Market, which is interactive with our website. We introduced free weekly children’s activities, offered by community organizations who volunteered their time & materials to entertain the kids.
The arrival of Covid in 2020 forced our market to relocate to meet the state’s health guidelines requiring people to keep a social distance of at least 6 feet. Fortunately, the fairgrounds manager & Mercer County Commissioners invited us to set up at the fairgrounds, just a few blocks west of downtown Celina. That venue has been home to the farmers market ever since, providing lots of space for expansion, adequate safe parking & a natural connection to agriculture. The market invited 4H & FFA chapters to get involved, & many of our vendors are active in the annual county fair.

It was during Covid & the shortage of food availability at local grocery stores that the farmers market drew attention for providing a reliable & sustainable source of healthy food for people in our area. In 2021, the market had grown large enough to hire an Assistant Operations Manager to help with market management, set up & tear down on Saturday mornings. To this day, that is the only paid position at our market which is run by an enthusiastic group of volunteers. Also in 2021, we introduced the Ohio Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program which allowed us to give discounts on produce & honey to seniors who qualified for the government program.

We introduced the first indoor market in winter of 2023, open on Thursdays, 4-7 pm. in the PBS building at the fairgrounds. After a lackluster season, we changed the date & hours of the indoor market in 2024-2025 to correlate with the hours of the outdoor market, & that was a success. It was at the end of that season that we decided to transition our market to year-round, serving customers outdoors May – September & in the PBS building October – April. In 2024, our outdoor market had over 60 registered vendors & the indoor market attracted 43. We initiated Friends of the Market, a program that gives the community an opportunity to volunteer with market activities.

Today, our market attracts vendors & shoppers from many different communities. We partner with the local health department & Ohio Department of Agriculture to protect both our vendors & our shoppers. We provide a family friendly atmosphere which can include live entertainment, special events & the Magic Food Bus, which serves hot meals made with ingredients from our vendors & other local food sources.

Our market supports local small businesses & assists entrepreneurs in marketing & growing their business. Our focus is on food, & although artisan crafts are welcome, they can make up no more than 25% of our sellers. We offer the community a chance to know their food producers & develop personal relationships. Children enjoy talking to the farmers & learning how their produce, meat & eggs are grown. The farm to table movement means food is sold fresh from the farm without preservatives & chemicals required to transport food long distances to a grocery store. That limits the amount of fuel used & cuts back on pollution, in addition to just selling fresher products.

We invite you to join us on Saturday mornings, 9-12, & be a part of our story!