The Roslindale Village Main Street farmers market has three Saturdays left in Adams Park, and the last one is November 21. The Square's calendar keeps going after that. It moves about a block. Between now and spring, the dates people plan around shift from the park at 4225 Washington Street to the Emerald Society at 10 Birch Street and the plaza outside it. The Saturday after Thanksgiving is the hinge. It's the last big night in Adams Park this year, and it's also the shopping day Roslindale helped invent.
Here is how the next five weeks hand off from one block to the other.
The outdoor market runs 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., rain or shine, with live music each week. The season started June 6. The Jamaica Plain Gazette names Brookwood Community Farm, Boston Smoked Fish Co. and Mei Mei Dumplings among the vendors still selling through the end of the season. That leaves November 7, 14 and 21 to stock up on smoked fish and dumplings before the market goes quiet for December.
The Arnold Arboretum's Roslindale entrance has its own November programs. The Arboretum also lists a Mushroom Hunt on Sunday, November 15, from noon to 2 p.m. The Owl Prowl is Saturday, November 21, from 4 to 5 p.m., starting at the Flora Way Gate, which used to be called the Bussey Street Gate. That's the same day as the final market, a few hours after the vendors pack up. The Arboretum's event page lists the Owl Prowl as sold out. If you have a spot, November 21 runs from produce in the morning to owls at dusk, all within walking distance of the Square.
Adams Park gets one more crowd after the market closes. On November 28, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Roslindale Village Main Street pairs Small Business Saturday with its annual tree lighting.
The history explains why this is the neighborhood's own holiday. According to the Jamaica Plain Gazette, Roslindale Village "helped pilot the very first Small Business Saturday," which launched in partnership with American Express, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. RVMS's own account dates the first observance to 2010 and lists Roslindale Village Main Street among the partners. American Express says it created the day in 2010 to bring holiday shoppers to small businesses. A few years later, in 2013, The Boston Globe covered a Roslindale event led by Menino that had music, a tree lighting and a tour of local shops. Shopping plus a tree lighting is the same pairing the Square still uses.
This year, RVMS is publishing local gift guides and featuring holiday items from the Village's independent shops. The Gazette also lists two parking options for the day:
The day ends with the tree lighting in Adams Park. The Gazette lists free hot cocoa, an ornament decorating station and photos with Santa. RVMS's standing description of the event also includes carols and a reindog parade. As of late October, no start time had been posted for 2026, so check roslindale.net the week of Thanksgiving before you head over.
Earlier that afternoon, The Substation is hosting the free Folk Song Society Pub Carol Sing from 12:30 to 3 p.m. So November 28 can be a full Village day: carols after lunch, shopping through the afternoon and the tree lighting at the end.
Eight days after the tree lighting, the Square's next big event takes place on Birch Street. The RVMS Annual Holiday Market is Sunday, December 6, from 3 to 7 p.m. It fills Birch Street Plaza and the Emerald Society with craft and food vendors selling handmade gifts and seasonal treats.
That date is worth writing down. RVMS's general events page says the Holiday Market is "usually a Thursday in December." The 2026 notice in the Gazette gives a Sunday, so this year's market is on a weekend afternoon. The Gazette describes it as a bridge, since the regular farmers market pauses in December. The Holiday Market is the only RVMS market of the month, and it's held at the address where the market will spend the winter.
Birch Street's Saturdays have already changed once this year. Weesh Bake Shop owner Elyse Purbaugh announced on June 1 that the Birch Street retail shop would close at the end of June. Saturday walk-in sales ended, and the custom-cake business continued through preorders, pickups and pop-ups, as Universal Hub and Boston Restaurant Talk reported. If a Weesh cake is part of your holiday plans, you'll need to order ahead. The shop no longer takes walk-ins.
The RVMS dates are on weekends. The Substation's calendar covers the evenings in between, and much of it falls in the stretch when there's no farmers market.
The December 15 card show falls in a stretch with no RVMS market scheduled. The last planned RVMS event of the year is the Holiday Market on December 6, and the next one is the winter market's opening in January. Between those dates, the venue calendars carry the weeks on their own.
The Emerald Society stays the center of things into spring. The RVMS Winter Farmers Market opens on the first Saturday of 2027, January 2. It runs every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. inside the Emerald Society on Birch Street through the end of March. RVMS's standing Signature Events page describes the winter market as a Sunday event, so check the day there before your first visit in January.
Compared with the outdoor season, the winter market starts an hour later and runs a shorter morning, and it's indoors rather than in Adams Park. The summer market runs 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The winter market runs 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., so if your summer habit was an early stop, plan on a later one.
For the rest of the season, the dates to keep are:
The first two are in Adams Park and the last two are on Birch Street. Adams Park's last big night of 2026 is the evening the tree goes up.
If you want to talk about what's coming up in Roslindale Square, or about your own plans in the neighborhood, Sean Preston is happy to compare notes over a cocoa at the tree lighting or anytime after. Let's Connect.
No relationship is too large or small when it comes to helping his clients with their real estate needs. Sean's business is built on the success of his relationships that are the result of satisfied customer interactions.
Let's Connect