Where are the best Farmers/Flea markets in ca (San Jose: neighborhood, theater)

[dreamtimewriter]

Hi Everyone,

I am just wondering where some of the best Farmers Markets and Flea markets are held in California. Are they a pretty well attended thing out there?

What about artist events?

Thanks

[goatherder]

Well I cannot say what is the "best" as I only know my local area but Santa Barbara has farmers markets several times at diferent locations during the week, they usually are only open for a few hours and are heavily attended.
The sunday artshow at the beach is pretty good and there are other shows throughout the year in other venues.
The swapmeet was a great fleamarket back years ago but it is mostly taken over by dealers selling low end new junk instead of the antique junk that I used to see.

[ferretkona]

There is a nice one north of Pismo off the 101 that is nice.

Cypress college on Valley View south of the 91 is a good old fashioned with a small mix of new, free.
Orange County Market place, all new products but very large. Live music, fresh produce, new clothing, pet supplies and more. I think there is a $2 entrance fee now.

[Inthesierras]

The auction in Roseville used to be great. I loved going there as a kid. I haven't been there in about 5 years, so I am not sure how it is.

Chico has a great farmers market. I think its on Thrusday nights. Lots of vendors, lots of variety.

[dreamtimewriter]

Thanks for the replies. We will be taking a trip to california soon and wanted to check out some of the markets there and see how they compare to ones back east.

[ferretkona]

A lot of farmers markets are on weekdays, most cities have them. Here in Bellflower it is on Tuesday. Signal Hill has a very nice one that I want to return to.

[humboldtrat]

There is a large flea market in San Jose on Berryessa Rd. Check out www.sjfm.com for details. Also if you're ever in Arizona, visit Quartzsite on I-10, halfway between LA and Pheonix during Jan and Feb. That flea market takes a couple of days to walk through. Go to www.quartzsitervshow.com.

[Binky90265]

Santa Monica Farmers Market....and up in north California....the Monterey farmers market is great.

[Rhenzanite]

Definitely try out San Luis Obispo's Farmers Market on Thursday nights. A large part of downtown is completely shut down to vehicles and You can find some pretty amazing bbq and local produce. There are always bands playing, belly dancers/gymnastics etc performing and most of the shops stay open. It's basically a gathering place for people all over the county.

[18Montclair]

"Heart of The City" Farmers Market at SF Civic Center is awesome. I love the urban environment and the crowds of people there. The produce is excellent(very hard to find stuff too) and its not pretentious at all.

If you want Pretense(but the quality is world class), then I suggest the Ferry Building in SF. That Farmer's Market is kinda fancy. Right on the waterfront. I really like the locally cured meats and local cheeses and what not.

Also, in Oakland there is a farmer's market held in Old Oakland(A historic Disrict) on Fridays. Its cool because directly next to the Farmer's Market is Oakland's Chinatown, which is a great place to explore after you visit the market.

On Saturdays, there is another really cool Farmer's Market across from the Grand Lake Theater. I love the produce there as well as the ambience of the surrounding neighborhood.