Since October 14, the Fullerton Certified Farmers' Market has been held at Fullerton Downtown Plaza, 125 E. Wilshire Ave., and no longer at Independence Park on West Valencia Drive. The hours are the same, Wednesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and so is the operator, the nonprofit Fullerton Certified Farmers' Market Board. The City of Fullerton's market page calls the move temporary. Neither the City nor the Fullerton Observer's October 13 notice gives a reason or an end date.
This is the market the City describes as believed to be the oldest farmers' market in Orange County, and in 45 years it has rarely stayed put for long. The last time it moved somewhere harder to see, it lost longtime vendors. Where this market sits has always shaped what you find when you get there.
Six Addresses Since 1981
The City keeps a running history of the market on its event page, and laid end to end it reads like a moving log.
- August 1981: Opens at the old Ford School property, now Ford Park, at Wilshire and Richman avenues.
- 1984: Three years in, it outgrows that site and moves to Woodcrest Park.
- 1984 through 2007: Stays at Woodcrest Park, its longest run anywhere, until growth forces another move, this time to Independence Park.
- COVID-19 pandemic: Moves temporarily to the Fullerton Public Library parking lot, on the understanding that it will get a new home at the Fullerton Community Center once the library fully reopens.
- July 7, 2021: Crosses Commonwealth Avenue to the Fullerton Community Center.
- August 8, 2025: Returns to Independence Park.
- October 14, 2026: Moves temporarily to Fullerton Downtown Plaza.
The Observer's account of that history matches on most points but dates the move to Independence Park to 2017, not the end of the Woodcrest years. Either way, the pattern holds. In its first few decades, the market moved because it kept getting bigger. Since the pandemic, its moves have come from outside pressures: a closed library, a building that needed its lot back, and now a stated but unexplained temporary move.
The seven stops above cover six distinct sites. Independence Park is the only one the market has come back to.
The Community Center Years Showed What a Location Can Cost
The four years at the Fullerton Community Center explain why a move matters to this market more than to most events.
In its August 2025 story on the return to Independence Park, the Fullerton Observer reported that reduced visibility at the Community Center site had hurt vendor participation, and that many longtime vendors had left. A 2021 Observer vendor profile placed the market behind the Fullerton Community Center.
For a certified farmers' market, a smaller vendor list is a real loss. The City notes that its farmers and vendors travel to Fullerton each week from as far south as Brawley and as far north as Fresno. A grower who makes that drive needs enough Wednesday customers to justify the gas and the morning. When foot traffic drops, the long-haul vendors are the hardest to keep, and they are often the ones selling fruit, plants and orchids that the City says many local supermarkets don't carry.
That is why the 2025 return was framed as a reset. Jimmy Moreno, the market's manager and a longtime vendor known for his oranges and avocados, told the Observer that Independence Park's better visibility and ample parking would revitalize the market.
"Independence Park has always felt like home for our market. It's a place that supports our growth."
That quote is from Moreno, as reported by the Fullerton Observer in August 2025.
What Brought It Back to Independence Park
The return to Independence Park depended on restrooms. The City's Independence Park project page says restroom access at the park was restored in August 2025, and that this is what allowed the Wednesday market to return. The fix came in July 2025, when the City brought in a Throne Restroom unit paid for partly by a $100,000 grant from Orange County Supervisor Doug Chaffee.
The same page describes a larger plan. Phase I of the Independence Park Revitalization Project is set to include Fullerton's first adaptive playground, new restroom facilities, landscape and irrigation improvements, and interior gym upgrades that include a new floor. The City lists $3.1 million in secured funding: $2 million in Park Dwelling Funds, $1 million in state funding secured by State Senator Thomas Umberg, and $100,000 from the County. In a January 26, 2026 press release, the City said it was ready to begin the project now that Union Pacific Park and the new Union Pacific Trail had opened.
Since then, money has kept coming in. The September 15, 2026 City Council agenda included accepting $175,000 in County of Orange discretionary grant funds for the Independence Park Revitalization Project.
Park construction would be an obvious explanation for the October move, but no published City notice makes that connection. The project page says construction has not begun and that staff are preparing bid documents before returning to the council to award a contract. For now, the only official word is "temporarily."
A Wednesday Morning at Downtown Plaza
Whatever the reason, the market now sits in the middle of downtown Fullerton, on a plaza the City already runs as a market space. From April 2 through September 3 this year, the same plaza at 125 E. Wilshire Ave. hosted the City's Thursday Fullerton Night Market from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. That season has ended, so for now Wednesday morning is the plaza's market day.
Wilshire Avenue has history for this market too. Its first home in 1981 was at Wilshire and Richman avenues, and the new plaza is on the same street.
A few practical notes for regulars getting used to the new site:
- Parking: The City's downtown parking map lists the Wilshire Structure at 122 E. Wilshire Ave. with 323 spaces and a two-hour limit from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Sundays and holidays. The City's downtown parking page notes that rules vary by lot and are posted at each one, so check the signs.
- Timing: The market still runs 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. A two-hour limit in the structure covers a full loop of the stalls, but not a full loop plus a long coffee.
- Coffee nearby: Pilgrim's Coffee House, at 124 W. Wilshire Ave., serves breakfast and lists Wednesday morning hours starting at 8 a.m.
- What's on the tables: The City lists fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs, honey, plants, orchids, nuts and bread. At least one shopper has already noticed a change. A reader commenting on the Observer's relocation notice asked whether the whole wheat sourdough vendor still comes, after not seeing them at a recent market.
That comment sums up why moves matter here. A shopper keeps coming to a market because of specific vendors, and every move tests whether those vendors come too. At the Community Center, according to the Observer, many did not. Downtown Plaza puts the market steps from a 323-space parking structure, on a plaza the City used for its Thursday Night Market from April through early September. That is a much more visible spot than a lot behind a building.
What to Watch Before It Moves Back
Three things will show how the move is going. One is whether the farm stands that come up from Brawley and down from Fresno keep showing up on Wilshire. Another is whether the City posts an end date on its market page. The third is when the council awards the Independence Park Phase I construction contract, which the City says comes after staff finish the bid documents and review proposals. Until any of that is announced, the market is at 125 E. Wilshire Ave. every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
At Monarch Home Group, we keep track of downtown Fullerton and Independence Park week by week, market moves included. If you have a question about how changes downtown or at Independence Park might affect your street or your home's value, reach out. We're happy to talk it through, and when you're ready, ask us for your free market valuation.
