As the rain broke just before 9 a.m. Saturday, several hundred gardeners rushed into a line along 53rd Street to be among the first shoppers at the Hyde Park Spring Garden Fair.
Plant aficionados and first-time gardeners fidgeted, clutched cardboard carrying trays, and double-checked purchase lists, evoking the frenzy outside a department store on Black Friday.
The spring fair has been an annual presence in Hyde Park since 1959. The fair takes place in Kimbark Plaza, 1201-1236 E. 53rd St., and donates its profits to neighborhood organizations, particularly those focusing on beautifying the neighborhood with gardens and natural areas.
Lauren Nassef, new co-chair of the fair, said Saturday that organizers weren’t too worried about the rain. She recalled a massive dust storm that engulfed the sale in 2025.
“We were so grateful that the rain watered a lot of our plants,” Nassef said.
The fair was held on Saturday and Sunday this year, departing from its traditional Friday-Saturday schedule.
“We were very nervous how that would work,” said fair co-chair George Rumsey, noting that the change had been made to accommodate people who work on Fridays.
“And boy, did they show up,” he added.
Gardeners line up along 53rd Street for the Hyde Park Spring Garden Fair, May 16, 2026.
Marc C. Monaghan
As the fair opened, the waiting customers rushed down the Kimbark Plaza arcade, now an alley of folding tables lined with trays and pots of plants. The tables were organized by “departments” — annuals, perennials, houseplants, native plants, vegetables and herbs, trees, shrubs, vines, roses and more. Each table was staffed by one or more volunteers.
“When I started volunteering with native plants 20 years ago, they were a tough sell,” said Patricia Morse, who chairs the department. “But now, people show up with the list that gets posted online, looking for the exact plants they need.”
This year, the fair had 893 native plants spanning 101 species “for all kinds of growing conditions,” Morse said. “We sold 84% by 4 p.m. on Saturday.”
Hyde Park Produce, a grocery store that shuttered suddenly in February, loomed over much of the fair, serving as a backdrop to many of the sales tables.
“It’s so sad to see the produce market that really anchored the plaza leave us,” Nassef said, noting that Hyde Park Produce had been a good partner to the fair. “They let us use their restroom and their carts, and said (it) did increase their business as well. So we missed that partnership.”
This year, the garden fair donated $7,500 to the Shirley J. Newsome Neighborhood Beautification Program of the South East Chicago Commission.
The beautification program, which started in 1999, gives small grants to beautification projects across Kenwood, Hyde Park, Woodlawn and Washington Park. In recent years, grants went to the Muddy Waters MOJO Museum in North Kenwood, Ray School for its nature play landscape, and the Woodlawn Maroons Heritage garden on the grounds of the Woodlawn Community Elementary School.
“The Hyde Park Garden Fair is all about Hyde Park,” Nassef said.
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