Kalispell Summer Flea Market

On the second and fourth Saturdays from May through August, tents go up in rows on the Flathead County Fairgrounds at 265 North Meridian Road in Kalispell, and the Kalispell Summer Flea Market opens with no charge at the gate. The market’s own posts place it outside. The county calendar put the May 9, 2026 opener in the south end parking area. Each space is twelve feet square and has no electricity, and some sellers back a trailer into theirs. The same grounds hold the Northwest Montana Fair and, through the year, wedding, craft, home, boat, RV, sports, outdoors and gun shows. The market runs rain or shine, with no rain date. Vendors may not pack up before three in the afternoon, because the organizer holds that an early teardown makes shoppers think the day is over. The 2026 dates were May 9 and 23, June 13 and 27, July 11 and 25, and August 8 and 22.

Sourdough, saddles and cast iron

Dozens of vendors come to each market, and ahead of one May weekend in 2026 the market reported more than 50 scheduled. The goods run from antiques, collectibles and handmade work to new and gently used housewares: furniture, glassware, tools, 1970s-style clothing and, on occasion, deer mounts. The state and regional tourism listings call these taxidermy. About half the vendors differ from one market day to the next. The Chamber of Commerce listing says about half sell yard-sale or vintage goods, and the organizer’s own page says over half. In the market’s words, each date brings new booths from people cleaning out storage, moving, or selling off a collection.

The lineups posted through the 2026 season give the particulars:

• Eric’s Garage, with tools, cast iron, camping and sporting goods, and toys.
• Westmar Mules LLC, with leather saddles, bridles, horse tack and solar lights.
• Janet’s hunting and ammunition clearance.
• 406 Boxes, selling vintage fruit boxes and signs.
• Homer’s Houses, selling handmade birdhouses.
• Kim’s Cedar Planters, and Frank’s Vinyl Records & T’s.
• Mountain Hippie Dyes, selling tie-dye.
• Two local book publishers, Phantom Ink Press and Into the Flames.
• Angel’s Gifts, cutting vinyl decals on the spot.

An AT&T booth and a Norwex stand of cleaning supplies have set up among the household cleanouts. Roger’s shed cleanout was one. Another was Brandie & Angie’s closet cleanout, with purses, shoes, kids’ clothing, athletic equipment and small furniture.

Food comes from stands and from no more than two food trucks per date. Lotus & Bea’s Bakery has sold sourdough, muffins, cookies and lemonade. Beargrass Cafe has sold coffee, tea, smoothies and breakfast burritos, and Pucker & Swirl, Ubru Coffee and Big Sky Espresso have stood in the same rows. Vintage Story Farm has sold goat milk soap and River Hill Farm plant starts. Children keep booths of their own under a separate “child entrepreneur” rate, and the market advertises kids’ lemonade stands at every date. Angel Threads has sold handmade beaded bracelets, and The Makers Mixx beaded flowers.

The rules set the sound of the place. Radios at high volume are barred, and live or recorded music needs written permission. Bounce houses, Silly String, smoke bombs, stink bombs and snappers are all prohibited. Dogs must be leashed or kenneled with shade and water.

Rust buckets on the fourth Saturday

On fourth Saturdays a Cars & Coffee show sets up alongside the booths. The Chamber listing invites drivers to bring a show car, a rust bucket or a rat rod and enter to win a prize. In 2026 these fell on June 27 and July 25, and a June post added a pin-up contest to the bill. The last market of the 2026 season, on August 22, carried the Big Sky Auto Fest car show from nine to three. The market billed that day with the line “Cruise on down to the Fairgrounds and show off that car.”

A boutique owner’s market

The market is run by Nichol Laaren Maurer, who takes its applications and payments under the name Nichol Laaren Boutique. Her own booth at the market is Nichol Laaren’s Boutique & Vintage Trading Post, which the market describes as a mobile boutique of vintage women’s clothing and accessories. Her page calls the event the annual Summer Flea Market and warns that anyone else collecting booth money is a scammer.

The county calendar records the market’s first summer. It lists a Kalispell Flea Market on May 10, 2025, from eight to two in the south parking lot area of the fairgrounds, with the contact given as “Nicole.” A second entry, on August 2, 2025, placed it on the fairgrounds’ north grassy area. By the 2026 season the listings described the market as in its second year and biweekly. In June 2026 the market pitched itself to people who like estate sales and farmers markets but do not want to drive all over town. The Chamber listing urged them to clean out the attic, basement, spare rooms, garage, shed and barn and bring it all to the fairgrounds.

On September 3, 2026, the market posted “That’s a wrap folks!” It said it was closed for the season and would open again the second Saturday of May.