NEW YORK – On a Saturday morning, busking musicians filled the air with jazz at Detroit’s Eastern Market. Shoppers streamed in, sizing up winter produce, chutneys, fresh cuts of beef and more.

Though farmers’ markets are associated with warm months and lush fruit and vegetables, Eastern Market and others like it across the United States are becoming cold-weather travel destinations as they add artisanal goods, entertainment and indoor experiences, like the cooking classes the Detroit market sometimes offers during the cold months.

Some, like the Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles, the Detroit market and the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, have been in business for so long that shopping, restaurant and entertainment neighbourhoods have cropped up around them, creating urban ecosystems worthy of winter weekend getaways.

“There is now a whole destination associated with the markets themselves, and often their events are unique to the communities they serve,” said Mr Ben Feldman, executive director of the Farmers Market Coalition, a non-profit organisation for markets across the US.

Take, for example, the Commissioner’s Cup BBQ Cook-Off and Festival at the South Carolina State Farmers Market, which happens each March in Columbia; or Milwaukee Public Market’s chilli-and-beer-tasting event that kicks off annually in February.

Mr Feldman added that while the focus of farmers’ markets is on what is in season, purveyors are extending the peak of the season by creating baked goods, jams and other products from crops they have grown.

Others are relying on greenhouses to bring more produce to market in winter. The revenue, he said, is beneficial to the immediate community.

For cities in warmer climates, staying open in winter is easy. California, for instance, has scores of year-round markets.

Those in colder cities often have pavilions to buffer against the cold. The Nashville market, for example, has a Market House, where shoppers will find prepped-food options and cafes, including a wine-tasting room.

Here are five markets that are worth a day or two of exploring for travellers headed to these American cities – even in chilly weather.

1. Santa Fe Farmers’ Market

There are always reasons to go to Santa Fe, New Mexico: The city’s sublime views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and its roughly 325 days of sunshine a year make it almost a lock for good weather.

So the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market operates throughout winter on Saturdays at the reimagined, city-owned Santa Fe Railyard, where tourists and new Santa Fe residents once rolled in on sleeping and dining cars when the city was young.

In the winter months, said Ms Debbie Burns, chief executive of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market, shoppers can find fresh-picked arugula, bok choy, cabbage, potatoes, sprouts, microgreens, carrots, kale, mushrooms, winter squash, spinach, greenhouse tomatoes and other produce.

“It used to be that hardly any vendors produced in the winter, but now so many people have greenhouses that we have over 40 vendors,” she said.

The market caps all products that are not produce and meat (as in baked goods or crafts) at no more than 20 per cent to keep space for what the market is meant for: fresh food.

“We are considered one of the best in the nation because we’re a true farmers’ market,” she said. “If people could taste the difference between the vegetables here and what they get at grocery stores or even at health food stores, they would understand, because all of that has to go through a distribution centre.”

2. The Original Farmers Market, Los Angeles

With its proximity to the San Joaquin Valley in central California – one of the most productive agricultural regions in the US – Los Angeles has dozens of farmers’ markets, but the Original Farmers Market in the Fairfax District is an institution.

There is a wider variety of fruit and vegetables here than at markets in less accommodating climes, but beyond its winter produce – which includes avocados, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, kumquats, clementines and persimmons – this market is also a maze of global (Brazilian, Cajun, Chinese, French, Italian, Middle Eastern and more) street-food vendors, restaurants, seafood and meat dealers, and speciality and curio shops.

Winter also brings the market’s annual celebration of the Lunar New Year with live performances and activities for kids. Another annual event is the market’s own Mardi Gras celebration in mid-February, with live blues and zydeco as well as Louisiana-style food.

On weekdays, crew and talent from the nearby studio complex Television City are often seen eating lunch at the cream-and-hunter-green stalls that make up this winding market, which has had celebrity fans over the years, including the Beatles.

Some locals shop at the Fairfax market for certain items and then head to the nearby Hollywood Farmers’ Market for its wide selection of fresh fruit and vegetables.

3. Nashville Farmers’ Market

One of the oldest Tennessee markets, the Nashville Farmers’ Market is about 1.6km from the honky-tonks on Broadway. The market’s current version is a 6.4ha grid of stalls and one pavilion in the city’s urban core.

While most of the farmers here use traditional farming techniques, some vendors, such as Josiah and Eunae Mulvihill of Morning Star Farm, use “high tunnels” (greenhouses, but larger) as their main growing method. This means leafy greens like chard, spinach, kale, kohlrabi and parsley, as well as root vegetables, can be found at their stall, even in winter.

“Our process allows for us to have fresh vegetables year-round,” Mr Mulvihill said. His farm, he said, is committed to a sustainable “best practices” approach, which means, among other things, organic farming.

The open-air stalls operate throughout the year inside two large covered sheds that serve 150 vendors, including ranchers, artisans, dairy farmers and cheese makers as well as dealers of farm-direct products like honey, jams, jellies and chutneys. The market also lists 12 meat and seafood vendors.

Also open year-round is the Nashville market’s expansive, slightly raucous food hall, which offers several international restaurants, including Greek, Jamaican and Korean fare. There are also cafes, a craft beer pub and several speciality stores, including a comprehensive international market.

4. Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia

The big blue sign with red neon letters at 12th and Arch Streets is a familiar sight to Philly natives, many of whom grew up going to the busy Reading Terminal Market, a 78,000 sq ft enclosed market that hosts nearly 80 independent vendors in the former Reading Terminal train shed.

It is one of the oldest markets in the country, and it is the most visited Philadelphia tourist spot after the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, according to the market.

Pennsylvania is known for its produce in spring, autumn and summer, and for its dairy and meat products throughout the year. The number of dairy farms in Pennsylvania is second only to Wisconsin.

The Philly market has a number of old-school butchers, and 12 Pennsylvania Dutch vendors who specialise in Pennsylvania Dutch specialities such as baked goods, cheeses, chicken potpies and confections.

The seating area in the market’s centre is where guests can sample shoofly pie and scrapple, along with old-school favourites like Philly cheesesteaks and hoagies. The prepared food is considered so good at the Reading Terminal Market that almost all Philadelphia food tours include a swing through it.

The market officially started doing business in 1893 at the current site, now a National Historic Landmark. The street-level market opened when the rumbling from trains then operating overhead could be felt.

5. Eastern Market, Detroit

The sprawling Eastern Market is a central shopping hub for the city’s restaurateurs, and the site of the largest potted flower market in the US.

This mammoth market district, just north of the city’s downtown, has 17ha of restaurants, art galleries, entertainment, speciality shops and cafes.

The market dates to 1841, when early Michiganders purchased hay and wood at the site. It even has its own welcome centre.

There are 225 vendors at the Saturday year-round market, and the Gratiot Central Meat Market, a meat-and-seafood store on Gratiot Avenue, has 12 vendors who operate throughout the year, from Monday through Saturday.

Mr Thomas Bedway, whose family has been a presence at the Gratiot market since the 1960s, said that by using local butchers, consumers have a better understanding of what they are getting, when the meat was cut and how to prepare it.

“You can come in here and give me your budget and what you want, and we can cut to order. We can also custom blend,” he said.

The market’s church-like, arched brick entrance, through which an estimated 45,000 visitors flow each Saturday to find produce, meat, baked goods, jams, honey, cheeses, spices, plants and flowers, is unmissable. NYTIMES