Every Sunday from May through October, the open-air SoWa Market in Boston’s South End entices with food, craft, and vintage market finds – plus food trucks!
Over the past several years, Boston has created a weekend attraction that may surpass Freedom Trail in sheer gravitational pull. It’s the SoWa Market (SoWa being a concatenation of “South of Washington Street), and it’s an open-air food/craft/vintage market with food trucks spread over two parking lots and an old warehouse building in the South End. Intrigued? Follow me!
The noble tower of the Pine Street Inn, a replica of the Torre del Mangia in Siena, looms above the SoWa market.
The market is located on Harrison Avenue, between Randolph Street and Paul Sullivan Way. You’ll find a public parking lot ($5 during market hours) on Randolph. Park there, walk around the corner, and the first thing you’ll encounter is the farmer’s market, where booths are stacked with beautiful produce, fresh flowers, spices, meats, prepared foods, maple syrup, honey, and even clothing from The Fashion Truck.
Valicenti pasta. Joshua Davidson of Nutting Farm Maple Syrup. Herbs and spices from Soluna Garden Farm.
Continue heading northeast on Harrison Avenue and you’ll see the craft market, which is bordered to the north by a line of food trucks. Grab lunch here, then browse stalls stocked with jewelry, clothing, baby gear, art prints, hats, stationery, and all kinds of crafty/handmade treasures.
These shoppers were in town from Montreal. Jewelry from Stonehouse Studio. Glitter baby booties from Kaya’s Kloset. Artist Carrie Wagner of SepiaLepus Illustrations. I purchased this whimsical map of the New England coastline from Carrie.
The last major section of the SoWa Market lives in a sprawling former warehouse on the southern side of the plaza. It’s the indoor vintage market. The goods here are eclectic: midcentury furniture, old prints, vintage campaign buttons, plastic jewelry, clothing, even a bowl of bison teeth.
The Vintage Market building. Shabby chic/French Country/gorgeous goods at the Painted Pretty booth.
Have I convinced you to go? The outdoor SoWa Market is open from 10am – 4pm, every Sunday from May through October. The indoor vintage market is open year-round. And since this is prime farmer’s market season, I suggest you get there soon.
Amy Traverso
Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee magazine and co-host of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with WGBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.
The last major section of the SoWa Market lives in a sprawling former warehouse on the southern side of the plaza. It’s the indoor vintage market. The goods here are eclectic: midcentury furniture, old prints, vintage campaign buttons, plastic jewelry, clothing, even a bowl of bison teeth.
Have I convinced you to go? The outdoor SoWa Market is open from 10am – 4pm, every Sunday from May through October. The indoor vintage market is open year-round. And since this is prime farmer’s market season, I suggest you get there soon.