Each Friday and Saturday from dawn to dusk, Haymarket, Boston’s centuries-old open air market adjacent to Government Center, the North End, and Faneuil Hall, offers a unique shopping experience. Sellers of fresh produce have clustered in Haymarket since around 1830, although vendors started congregating here at least one hundred years earlier. Haymarket vendors sell huge varieties of fruits and vegetables at great prices from open wooden stands and pushcarts. Specialty grocers selling cheese, fish, Halal meats, pizza, spices, and other delicacies from small shops can be found in an adjacent building on Blackstone Street.

Enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour of the market as it opens for the day on Friday, September 11 from 8:30 – 10:30. Learn about its history, how it has changed over time, and hear from the president of the Haymarket Pushcart Association. Visit vendors and sample fruits and vegetables, cheese, and even pizza.

Presented as part of Historic New England’s Everyone’s History series, The Haymarket Project. $25 Historic New England members $35 nonmembers.Registration is required. Please call 617-994-5920 or buy online at http://shop.historicnewengland.org/HGO-HAYMARKET-3-9598/. Tour departs from the corner of Congress and Hanover Streets. Image from www.dguides.com.