What will a Tuesday on MCA Plaza look like in mid-November, once the produce tents are gone? The more useful question is about the next four weeks. In that stretch the plaza still has its tents, and the museum behind it, the theater down at Navy Pier and the Pier's Crystal Gardens are already running their cold-weather programs.
The SOAR Farmers Market has four Tuesdays left in its 2026 season: Oct. 13, 20 and 27 and Nov. 3, each from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Streeterville Organization of Active Residents lists the season as May 19 through Nov. 3, and its calendar holds open one more November date if the weather allows. The market runs rain or shine. Nothing about how it works changes before the final Tuesday. What changes is everything around it.
The overlap begins on Tuesday, Oct. 13
Two Streeterville seasons share a single date. On Oct. 13 the market sets up for its fourth-to-last morning, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier opens The Winter's Tale, which runs through Dec. 12. That same week, Play On! plays its final performances, closing Oct. 18.
So the Pier's stage has already moved into winter-titled programming while the plaza is still selling the last of the Michigan fruit. For three weeks the neighborhood can be lived by either calendar. After Nov. 3 only one remains.
What is still on the tables
SOAR describes the market as curated from local growers and producers, and its vendor directory shows how far that supply reaches. Grouped by where they come from, the 2026 roster looks like this:
- From Michigan: Lyons Fruit Farm, whose farm market is in Fennville, sells fruit, vegetables and plants. Finn's Steak and Egg Ranch of Buchanan brings meat, poultry and eggs. Noffke Family Farms offers produce, flowers, and chicken and duck eggs. Joe's Blueberries sells Michigan berries along with juice, salsas, sauces and dried berries.
- From Wisconsin: Stamper Cheese Co brings Wisconsin cheeses. River Valley Ranch sells mushrooms plus sauces and spreads, which it describes as Wisconsin-made.
- From Illinois: Nichols Farm and Orchard of Marengo sells seasonal fruits and vegetables. Phoenix Bean makes small-batch tofu from Illinois-grown soybeans. Bennison's Bakery bakes European-style pastries, cookies and custom cakes on the North Shore.
- From inside the city: Meraki Urban Farm grows microgreens in Chicago. Kikwetu Coffee is a Chicago company pouring Kenyan coffee and tea. The Cook County Sheriff's Urban Farming Program also has a stall.
The roster also has a bread and sweets contingent. Breadman Baking Company sells multigrain, whole-wheat and focaccia. Misericordia Hearts and Flour Bakery sells breads, cookies, pastries and its heart-shaped brownies. MJM Provos Village Bakery handles pies and pastries. For eating on the plaza, Gotta B Crepes makes crepes to order, and Gayle V's Best Ever Grilled Cheese sells sandwiches plus kits to take home. Klehm Growers, Oosterhoff and Son, Ellis Family Farm and Smits Farm cover orchids, cut flowers, herbs, perennials and greens.
SOAR's directory was last updated in early June, so a given vendor's late-season attendance is worth confirming at the stall. I found no published information on EBT or Link acceptance.
The museum behind the tents has already moved on
The market sits on the Museum of Contemporary Art's plaza, so the indoor half of the overlap is a few steps from the tents. All three of the MCA's current shows run well past the market's last morning.
From the Center: Looking at Lucy Lippard opened Aug. 1 and stays up until July 11, 2027. It fills three floors with works from the museum's collection, arranged around Lippard's influence on contemporary art. Chicago Works | Mike Cloud: Worldless Obstruction runs through Feb. 7. It shows new paintings built from emojis, hinges and X-shapes, hung in flexible, foldable configurations. Slow Dance opened Sept. 12 and closes March 14.
The museum timed its exhibitions to the winter, not to the market's season. A Tuesday in October covers both: groceries on the plaza in the morning, three floors of gallery space upstairs whenever you like.
Saturday nights move into Crystal Gardens
Down at the Pier, the overlap moves to weekends. Slightly Spooky October is a free program from Oct. 17 through Nov. 1, with activities and movies on Oct. 17, 24 and 31 and Nov. 1. The movie nights are free and indoors in Crystal Gardens. Short films start at 5 p.m., a family feature at 5:30 and a spooky pick at 8. Navy Pier invites guests to bring a blanket or chair and to buy food from the Pier's shops and restaurants. The Pier's general event page lists the late show at 7:30, but the dedicated movie page says 8.
The lineup, night by night:
- Saturday, Oct. 17: Hotel Transylvania, then Beetlejuice.
- Saturday, Oct. 24: Wall-E, then Scream.
- Saturday, Oct. 31: Ghostbusters, then the 1978 Halloween.
- Sunday, Nov. 1: Coco, then The Conjuring.
The Oct. 17 shorts come from Chicago makers, including a Free Spirit Media high school cohort and the Mezcla Media Collective.
Halloween weekend brings its own small market
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and Navy Pier fills it with indoor trick-or-treating across the Pier, plus a costume contest and kids' activities. Other program days include a Mad Scientist Lab, a Mobile Art Studio, Frankenstein Toy Making, Double Dutch and mask-making.
The program also includes the Wintrust Community Market, which the Pier runs with Local Soul. It features local entrepreneurs and is listed from 1 to 5 p.m. This puts a small indoor market on the Pier's calendar during the same weekends the outdoor market on MCA Plaza has its last few Tuesdays.
On Sunday, Nov. 1, the Pier marks Día de los Muertos with art activities, the Wintrust market and a community ofrenda in the Family Pavilion on the Landing. Two days later, the SOAR market holds its scheduled final morning.
One week that uses both calendars
The week of Oct. 13 packs the most of this overlap into a few days:
- Tuesday, Oct. 13: The market opens at 7 a.m. on MCA Plaza, and The Winter's Tale opens at Chicago Shakespeare that same day.
- Friday, Oct. 16, and Saturday, Oct. 17: NoMI at Park Hyatt Chicago starts its two-night HERITAGE SERIES with Japanese Artistry, an omakase dinner with a fish-printing demonstration, Japanese-inspired cocktails and an optional whisky tasting.
- Saturday, Oct. 17: The Crystal Gardens movie series begins with shorts at 5 p.m.
- Sunday, Oct. 18: Play On! gives its final performance at the Pier.
After Nov. 3, the remaining dates on the calendar are all indoors. A Midsummer Night's Dream opens at Chicago Shakespeare on Nov. 11 and runs through Jan. 3. Wintrust Winter WonderFest opens in Festival Hall on Nov. 27 and runs through Jan. 3, 2027, with ice skating included. From Nov. 30 through Dec. 2 it is reserved for pre-booked groups and closed to the general public. The market's last scheduled Tuesday, Nov. 3, comes 24 days before WonderFest opens.
If the next few weekends have you thinking about how your own Streeterville routine fits your home through winter, I'm glad to talk it over with you. Maria Thanasouras has advised Chicago homeowners on these seasonal shifts for more than 30 years. Let's Connect.
