Sample trendy bites and win a year of date nights at BREADA’s 7th annual Farm Fête
Feast while supporting local farmers 🥕🥦
Fresh food fans can show their love for all things local at the 7th annual Farm Fête, taking place Thursday, September 25, at the Main Street Market downtown. The popular event, which raises money for Red Stick Farmers Market organizer BREADA, sold out in 2024, prompting organizers to enlarge capacity this year. Patrons will be able to move around both inside the marketplace and outside along a portion of 5th Street, BREADA Development Director Mysti Byrnes says.
“We had a 100-person waiting list last year,” she says. “This year, we’ll have half the street closed off, with music and chefs located both inside and outside. It will allow more people to come.”
BREADA operates Baton Rouge’s 29-year-old Red Stick Farmers Market, the second oldest in the state. The year-round market is open every Saturday downtown and every Thursday at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Seasonal markets take place at the Main Library at Goodwood on Tuesday afternoons and the ExxonMobil YMCA on Wednesday mornings.
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A new economic impact study released by BREADA last week found that the Red Stick Farmers Market generates $6.8 million in annual economic activity statewide. Average attendance at each Saturday market is about 2,400, the report stated.
Beyond the market, BREADA also manages the renovated Main Street Market, which now holds a teaching kitchen, coffee shop and retail shop for market items and four restaurant pods, two of which will open in October, Byrnes says. The organization also runs an emergency fund for farmers affected by natural disaster and other crises.
Farm Fête ticket holders will find live music, gourmet bites prepared by 10 restaurants, craft cocktails, a silent auction and a raffle for a year of date nights at local eateries. The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m., but guests eager to keep things going can head around the corner to Cocha for an after-party.
Byrnes says local trumpeter John Gray Jazz & Friends will perform outside and acoustic singer Ashley Orlando, a regular fixture at the Red Stick Farmers Market, will play inside.
Sample shrimp Creole with ratatouille with market veggies and Anna Marie shrimp made by Houmas House, pumpkin and okra hash with peach-glazed pork belly from City Club, a variety of jam-filled cakes by Eloise Market and Cakery, shrimp and crab enchiladas from Mestizo, and grit cakes topped with market ragu and whipped feta crèma by Chef Celeste, among other bites.
All attendees will receive a wooden token to vote on their favorite dish.
A digital silent auction opens during the Saturday market on September 20 and includes food- and farm-related items. Bid on farm tours from farmers market farmers, a stock-your-freezer meat package from vendor Cutrer’s Meat Market, and other prizes. The silent auction concludes at 8:30 p.m. the night of the Fête.
New this year is a $20 raffle that yields a year of date nights, Byrnes says. The winner lands 13 gift cards of $150 each from local restaurants. Tickets are available online with no limit to the number purchased.
“It’s [almost] a $2,000 value and sets you up for your date night every month of the year,” Byrnes says. “And you have a bonus month.”
Break out the fun fall fashion to fit the event’s dressy casual vibe. Visit BREADA for tickets and more information.
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