The plea for a year-round farmers’ market in Northwest Arkansas is getting too loud for some cities to ignore.

Fayetteville will open its first winter market Saturday, while Bentonville is planning a 2013 kick off.

Kimberly Scott, manager of the Rogers market, said she’s wanted a winter market for years but can’t find the right venue.

“We have a lot of people who grow cold weather crops, farm eggs and protein vendors,” she said. “We’ve been working for years to get the city to help us come up with accommodations for an indoor market. Right now, they say they don’t have a place.”

Fayetteville’s winter market is planned for every Saturday through March at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Vendors will be sheltered by a 6,000-square-foot tent in a meadow south of the garden.

Lori Boatright, market manager, said the winter market will include about 30 of the vendors from the Fayetteville square, which is closed for the winter. The market on the square is more than twice the size with about 70 vendors.

“They’ll be selling meats, eggs, baked goods, seasonal produce and crafts,” she said. “We have vendors producing things in greenhouses and high tunnels, so there will also be tomatoes, cucumbers and fresh salad greens based on availability.”

Glenn Woelk of Mason Creek Farms said he and other vendors spent the past few years pushing for a winter market.

The Washington County resident and his wife, Rose Konold, have been selling pork for about five years at the Fayetteville market on the square.

“With the climate the way it is now, the produce in the summer has been more sparse because it’s so hot and dry,” he said. “The winter produce has been wonderful, and now it will be accessible to the locals.”

Nicki McNelly, manager of the Bentonville market, said the 2013 winter market will coincide with the holiday lighting of the Bentonville square.

The market will run from about midmorning to when the lights turn off.

“We have so many people in the area that produce meat, cheese and crafts,” she said. “We wanted to offer a venue for those products to be sold locally.”

In winters past, Woelk said vendors made money by selling their products online and to restaurants and Ozark Natural Foods.

“We’ve had to pull together with smaller farmers and have our own small, private market,” he said. “We still didn’t have the numbers to get the full benefit of what we raised. The winter market is something we’ve wanted for years and I’m really excited.”

The demand for a winter market hasn’t been quite as loud in Springdale, according to Paula Boles.

Boles, who recently took over as market manager, said there aren’t any plans for a winter market, nor has there been any discussion.

“We’re not planning one and at this point, there’s not a desire to have one,” she said. “That may be something they do in the future.”

Boatright said the first winter market serves as a trial to determine the future of a year-round market. If all goes well, she said the Farmers’ Market will consider leaving the tent up next season and adding an evening market during the week.

Boatright said Eureka Springs is the only other town she knows of with a winter market.

“Our customers have been asking for a year-round shopping opportunity and our vendors have needed a venue to distribute their product,” she said. “We finally found right the opportunity.”