Every Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach transforms into a sensory wonderland, featuring a diverse array of food, clothing vendors, fresh produce and products, from stuffed animals to CBD oils.
The Ocean Beach Farmers Market delivers on every front, fostering a community where people from every walk of life can come and have a good time.
“The energy here is free, everyone’s themselves, no one’s trying to hide anything,” said Katya Fredericksen, the owner of Curation by Katya, who is a longtime vintage reseller at the OB Market.
Vintage resellers are a huge part of the market, as tons of students from San Diego State University and surrounding colleges use the market as a third place to hang out.
Third place theory comes to mind when thinking about the market. Third places are somewhere people go for free to converse with others in the community, hang out with friends or family and where relationships are built.
In most instances, it can be a café, library or park. But in this case, it is the neighborhood, the people, and the farmers’ market where you see students, families and locals all come together each Wednesday, week after week, to meet again.
“You see all types of people here, locals, tourists, artists and students, that’s what makes OB so unique,” said Christian Lopez, owner of Neglected Garments, another vintage reseller that frequently sells at the market.
This melting pot of people are consistently drawn to the market to unwind in the middle of the week, treating Wednesday nights as the perfect breath in the hustle of everyday life.
While many sell at other markets throughout the different neighborhoods of San Diego, for most, OB is their favorite one to come back to time and time again.
“OB is very local,” said Josh Yazine, owner of Retro Windbreakers. “I always see the homies tapping in; you’re always seeing locals at this market every week, it’s a community.”
Yazine started his brand by selling at local markets in San Diego and has created a staple brand that is recognizable throughout Southern California. The platform that the OB Farmers Market gives brands like Retro Windbreakers starts from the ground up, turning dreams into realities.
Enough about the clothing, what about the food?
The beauty of the OB Market is how many different varieties of cultural food you can find on just one street. Throw a dart on a map, and you can pretty much find food from anywhere. From East African to Asian to Mexican to Pacific Islander, there is something for every taste bud and craving.
“Locals built this place. We support each other, and that’s why we’re still here,” said Chef Sean “Maui” Canosa. For owners like Canosa, they pride themselves on the relationship they’ve built with the customers they see every week at the market.
Locals flock to Island Life Foods, as they say it’s the best island food they’ve had on the mainland, bringing flavors from Hawaii back here. Canosa has family and friends working with him at his booth, with even his 6-year-old son selling Pokémon cards in the back.
The family-oriented community in Ocean Beach is apparent not just through the customers but also those working booths as well, with the owner of OB Farmers’ Market encouraging Canosa’s son to sell in the back of the booth.
Sarita Castellanos, a junior business management student at SDSU, helps her mother run their banana pudding stand.
“She had me when she was 17,” said Castellanos. “This business is how she supports us.” Castellanos strives to use her business management degree to help run her mother’s business as they expand from selling at farmers’ markets to other venues as well.
It wouldn’t be a night out in OB if you didn’t go to the drum circle at the end of Newport Avenue by the beach. As you approach you can hear the drums all in sync with people dancing in the middle to the rhythm. Babies, elderly, hippies and more all join together to dance beneath the stars losing themselves in the music while others watch on appreciating people coming together through the music.
After making your way through the market, getting full on all the delicious food stands, dancing at the drum circle and getting some new pieces for your wardrobe, there are tons of options to go out with your friends afterwards. Newport Avenue is home to some locally owned bars that brings the community together in OB, with one of them being a recent hotspot for live music right along the market, The Harp.
Every Wednesday night, you’ll see a crowd drawn to The Harp to listen to live jam sessions and see people playing pool, enjoying the music. That’s what the OB Farmers Market is all about.
