Fig Festival at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

An ancient symbol of peace, prosperity and fertility, figs are delicious stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in prosciutto, or eaten out of hand. August is the peak of fig season at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, so get them while you can: these ripe and fragile delicacies don’t travel well and aren’t often seen in stores. If you haven’t had a fig outside of a Newton, come to the fest to find out why market shoppers and chefs alike are enthralled with these sumptuous fruits! 

Join The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) in collaboration with garden designer Maria Finn (proprietor of Prospect & Refuge) on Saturday, August 15 10:00 am - 1:00 pm for a Fig Fest. CUESA will host several fig-oriented events at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market highlighting 8 farmers who grow and dry multiple varieties of figs, including the popular Black Mission, Brown Turkey, Adriatic and Kadota.

From 10:00 am to 1:00 pm: Visitors can spend time in the fig education booth, where they’ll learn about the history of fig cultivation, which began as early as 9400 BC, and find out about the many nutritional benefits figs pack into their small, fragile cases. Pick up a fig bar  made by hand with from Ferry Plaza Farmers Market ingredients ($1 donation).  Urban gardeners will have the chance to meet garden designer Maria Finn, who will discuss how to grow and care for fig trees in the many Bay Area micro-climates.  Maria will bring fig trees for display. 

At 11:00 am, free fig-focused cooking demonstrations will be taught by Marie Simmons, author of Fig Heaven and Linda Carucci of The International Cooking School at the Art Institute of SF and author of Cooking School Secrets for Real World Cooks.

The fig education booth and urban garden display will be in the South Driveway. The cooking demonstration will take place in CUESA’s Dacor teaching kitchen on the Northwest side of the Ferry Building.

Cost:  Fig bar is $1 donation. All other events are free to the public.