The Malvern Farmers Market opens at 9 a.m. on Saturdays at Burke Park, at Warren Avenue and Roberts Road, and the Borough calendar lists market Saturdays there on November 14 and November 21. For the next few weeks, those mornings set the rhythm of a Malvern Saturday.
The same lawn has a much larger afternoon booked for Saturday, November 28. That day, the Malvern Business & Professional Association moves Christmas on King off King Street and into Burke Park at 4 p.m. for the tree lighting. Between now and then, one small borough park hosts three Saturdays in a row: the weekly market, the pre-Thanksgiving shopping morning, and the town's biggest holiday gathering.
The Winter Market Is Already Shopping for the Holidays
The lineup has turned toward the holiday table. Growing Roots posts each week's producer list on the Malvern market page by Monday morning and sends its newsletter around 8 a.m. on Thursdays. Several vendors on the recent roster are clearly stocking for late November.
Borrie Wilson Farm, a small poultry producer from Harleysville, recently joined the market for the first time. It brought pasture-raised chicken, eggs and turkey "just in time for the holidays." Wyebrook Farm from Honey Brook sells pasture-raised beef and heritage pork, both by pre-order and at the stand. Toad Stop Farm of Pottstown has been bringing sweet bunched carrots, beets, fennel, cabbage, escarole and radicchio, which is a fall soup-and-sides lineup more than a summer one.
The flower stand has changed with the season too. Violet Hill Flower Co. is moving mostly to dried-flower decor for fall and winter, and dried wreaths are part of that mix. For anyone decorating a front door before the tree lighting, the market has become one of the closest places in town to buy something grown locally.
Several vendors take Friday orders for Saturday pickup. Deadlines posted on the recent lineup:
- Wyebrook Farm: Friday at 10 a.m.
- Kastania Olive Oil: Friday at noon
- Taste of Puebla, the Kennett Square kitchen: Friday at noon
- Mother Nature's Sun, hand-crafted crab cakes and seafood: Friday evening, through the market link on its site
- Buenos Aires Empanada Bar of Newtown Square: Friday at 8 p.m.
Malvern's own Chuckie B's Meatballs, which makes Italian food from scratch, also takes pre-orders. Good Girls Bakery from Exton sells day-of only. It brings sourdough loaves, its English muffins and breakfast pastries, so come early for the best selection.
November 21 Is the Saturday Before Thanksgiving, and It Runs Into the Afternoon
Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, this year. That makes Saturday, November 21, the last market morning before the holiday. The Borough calendar lists the market at Burke Park that day.
It is also the third Saturday of the month, which matters for one stand. Back to Earth Compost sets up at the Malvern market on the first and third Saturdays. A five-gallon bucket of food scraps costs $5 to drop off. Meat, bones and dairy are not accepted, and the crew takes Venmo, PayPal or cash. Anyone clearing out the refrigerator before a holiday meal has a drop-off spot on the calendar that very week.
The day keeps going after the stalls pack up. From 2 to 4 p.m. on November 21, the Malvern History Center at 1 East 1st Avenue hosts a recipe swap. Visitors are invited to bring recipe cards or Malvern-based cookbooks, and the event listing promises treats from the Historical Commissioners. Copies of "Malvern Treasures" will be available, along with what the Borough calendar listing calls "one of our last cozy blankets while supplies last."
Market produce and poultry in the morning and a recipe swap in the afternoon make November 21 a full day of holiday cooking prep in the borough.
King Street Takes the Afternoon on November 28
A week later, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which is also Small Business Saturday, Christmas on King runs from noon to 6 p.m. The Borough's event listing puts it as "Shop, sip, and stroll King Street from noon to 4pm," followed by the tree lighting in Burke Park from 4 to 6 p.m.
The MBPA's Christmas on King page lists the King Street half in detail. Five food trucks are scheduled for noon to 4 p.m.:
- The Polish Connection
- Good Girls on the Go!, serving gourmet grilled cheese and soup
- Mobile Mess Hall
- Bon Fromage Charcuterie
- Mayday Coffee Cruiser
Locust Lane Craft Brewery and Dressler Estate are pouring at the beer garden, where a band plays and more live music runs along the street. Santa, Mrs. Claus, elves and the Grinch will be on King Street, with face painters, balloon artists and live ice sculpture carving. The MBPA page also posts parking maps for the event.
The street's regular storefronts set their own pace. The Buttery at 233 E. King St. lists daily hours of 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and a patio that stays open year-round. That puts its closing time half an hour before the street program ends, so a sit-down lunch there fits the early part of the afternoon. The café also sponsors the Malvern Farmers Market, which connects the two halves of the town's Saturday.
A few doors' worth of history sits elsewhere on the block. Scoops 'N' Smiles, the ice cream and water ice shop opened on King Street in 2016 by brothers Akain Rowland and Yusef Jackson, marked ten years this year, as VISTA Today reported in August. The same story says the business has since added a West Chester shop, a catering operation and an ice cream truck that turns up at local events.
At 4 p.m., the Crowd Walks Back to Burke Park
Christmas on King ends where the market mornings happen. Once the street program winds down, the event moves to Burke Park for its final two hours. The order of events on the MBPA page:
- 4 p.m.: Burke Park opens with the Mayday Coffee Truck, Donut NV, Locust Lane Craft Brewery, Dressler Estate and Rockin' Cotton Candy.
- Through the evening: performances by the Malvern Prep Men's Chorus with the Villa Maria Vocalise, a Ballet 180 Nutcracker performance, the Uptown Singers, Twirl Performing Arts dancers and One Voice Chorus.
- Alongside the stage: gingerbread cookie decorating, visits with Santa and hot cocoa.
- Tree lighting: the MBPA asks attendees to arrive by 4:50 p.m.
Because King Street's program ends at 4 p.m. and the tree lighting asks for arrival by 4:50, plan to head from King Street to Burke Park before the last food truck line clears if you want a spot near the tree.
Over three weeks, the park goes from produce tables, the compost drop-off and the flower stand on Saturday mornings to carols, a Nutcracker and a lit tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Planning the Next Three Saturdays
For a resident mapping out the next three Saturdays, the timing comes down to a few fixed points. On November 14 and November 21 the market opens at 9 a.m. at Burke Park, and Friday pre-order deadlines apply for vendors who take them. On November 21, add the History Center from 2 to 4 p.m. if family recipes are part of your holiday. On November 28, King Street runs from noon to 4 p.m., and the tree lighting asks for arrival by 4:50 p.m.
Because Growing Roots updates the producer list each week, check the market page on Monday to see who is coming. Read the Thursday newsletter for weekly features and any schedule changes before you leave the house.
Burke Park, the History Center and King Street sit within a short walk of each other, and that closeness is a big part of what owning a home in Malvern Borough feels like in late November. If you are thinking about a move within Malvern, or about how to show your own home during the holiday season, Maria Doyle knows these blocks Saturday by Saturday and would be glad to talk it through. Schedule Your Private Consultation.
