City Statement on Farmers Market Vendor Vacancies

Published on November 17, 2025

Statement on Farmers Market Vendor Vacancies

The City of Claremont would like to clarify recent misinformation about the reduction of vendors at the weekly Sunday Farmers Market.

The City issues an annual Special Event Permit to the Claremont Forum, the nonprofit organization that manages the market. This permit outlines the conditions the Forum must follow to operate on City streets. These conditions include street closure requirements, hours of operation, waste removal, vendor guidelines, and a rule that at least 60% of vendors must sell produce. The Forum receives 10% of each vendor’s revenue.

One long-standing condition of more than 20 years, is that the Forum may not allow vendors who sell prepared, made-to-order food and beverages for on-site consumption such as tacos, hot meals, or food truck items. Pre-packaged foods like breads, jams, spreads, honey, cheese, and fish are allowed. These rules help ensure fair competition with Village businesses, which pay leases and local taxes, maintain business licenses, and employ local residents.

Last month, City staff observed several violations of the Special Event Permit, including incorrect street closures and four vendors selling hot, made-to-order food using generators. These included a coffee cart, tamales, beignets, and acai bowl vendors. These vendors may participate only if their products are sold pre-packaged for off-site consumption.

City staff notified the Claremont Forum’s market manager of the violations and allowed two weeks to correct them.

This week, however, the Claremont Forum sent notices to more vendors than the four identified by City staff. It is unfortunate that the Forum has attributed these broader vendor reductions to the City. The Forum may have its own reasons for removing 10-15 vendors that are unrelated to the permit violations, and questions about these additional removals should be directed to the Claremont Forum. 

The City of Claremont values our long-standing partnership with the Claremont Forum and will continue to support them in the operation of the weekly Farmers Market. For questions regarding why additional vendors received exclusion letters, we encourage vendors to reach out directly to the Claremont Forum.