Wednesday Night Market by WulfstanTraveller
Every Wednesday evening from mid-May through August, Santa Rosa has a "Downtown Market" known as the Wednesday Night Market. It has been going on for almost 20 years (but was originally on Thursday) and is a free event that is essentially a cross between weekly streetfestival and farmer's market. It takes up the core of 4th St. downtown between B Street and E street, usually with a portion going up Mendocino Ave. (between B & D) to 5th St., but the exact layout has fluctuated over the years. The event is free and includes numerous vendors selling all kinds of crafts, art, breads, candies, various services, and a wide range of food. There are also street musicians and artists numerous people espousing varied political views, walking around with placards and handing out pamphlets. People seem to come out of the woodworks for this to show themselves off, meet others, or people watch and the event draws a wide range of people, including some very interesting folks. Some people come quite a distance to go.
It can be frustratingly crowded at times, but is also fun.
I should add that this is not Santa Rosa's "real" farmer's market, as people sometimes seem confused and the farmer's market portion of this event is limited compared to the large, regular farmer's market. The real farmer's market takes place every Saturday until noon all year long at the Veterans' Memorial Auditorium at the corner of Brookwood and Maple, across the stree from the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. It also is every Saturday except when the Wednesday Night Market is going on.