Via I Love the Burg
A weekly stop for produce, baked goods and locally-crafted vendors is getting a new home – but only for a week. The St. Petersburg Saturday Morning Market, typically held in the parking lot at Al Lang Stadium, is temporarily relocating to make room for construction of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.
This Saturday, March 2, the market will be hosted in the streets next to City Hall and Mirror Lake, centered at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and 5th Street North. The 140-plus vendor booths will sprawl along both roads from there. There will not be a market the following Saturday, March 9, in deference of Grand Prix activities that day. The Saturday Morning Market will resume in its normal location by Al Lang Stadium beginning March 16.
Saturday Morning Market is one of the country’s best regular markets
In operation since 2002, St. Petersburg’s Saturday Morning Market is one of the largest market of its kind in the Southeast US, and ranks among the biggest in the country with an average weekly attendance of more than 10,000. With ~150 rotating vendors each week, the market’s winter season runs from October-May and is hosted weekly from 9 am – 2 pm.
For those who haven’t been, the massive event showcases local farmers, a plethora of international ready-to-eat goods (more than 15 countries and their cuisines are represented weekly), fresh seafood, baked goods and other accoutrement. The market also features selected local artists and craftsmen, as well as live music.
In St. Pete’s warmer months, the Summer Market switches up the venue and hosts a smaller version in the shade of the trees at Williams Park downtown. The slightly scaled down version opens from 9 am – 1 pm from June to September.
The Saturday Morning Market is an independently run non-profit that is not associated with or sponsored by outside organizations or municipalities. It also offers free booths to local and national not for profits to educate the community. Learn more at saturdaymorningmarket.com.
