OCEANSIDE FARMERS MARKET CELEBRATES 30 YEARS & SUNSET MARKET CELEBRATES FIFTEEN YEARS

Oceanside Farmers Market

Celebrates Years Sunset Market Celebrates Years Thursdays Are Always A Party In Downtown Oceanside!

WORDS: ELIZABETH SCHWARTZE

When a city is bestowed with a temperate climate, and an active population—it’s the perfect recipe for creating exceptional outdoor events. And, Oceanside really has found success with not one, but two outdoor markets! This year, the Oceanside Farmers Market celebrates 30 years and Sunset Market celebrates fifteen years—making Thursdays in Oceanside epic!

Oceanside Morning Farmers Market runs From 9am to 1pm every Thursday. It’s a wholesome, family-friendly market that’s a must for farm-fresh, local produce. Give way to the evening twilight hours, and Sunset Market energizes four city blocks from 5 to 9pm on Thursday evenings. The two markets combined offer locals, and visitors the best of all things Oceanside, and a destination of excitement!

Years

Co-owner Thomas Crain of Booboo's Sweet Potato Pies

Oceanside Morning Farmers Market

That’s right! It’s been 30 years of the freshest produce, and local vendors in the heart of Oceanside! In the 1990s, downtown Oceanside wasn’t the outdoor destination it is today. The visionaries of Oceanside wanted to add a farmers market, hoping to support local farmers, and attract visitors downtown. When the market began, there were two security guards that walked the market to make visitors “feel safe.” Mark Bendixen has been the Market Manager for all 30 years. He’s a man of few words, but is very proud of the market’s continued success. He describes a lot of the customers as “Farmers Market customers” that frequent all the local markets for their fresh produce. It was a Thursday when the California Governor required all the markets to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mark and his vendors were already setting up on that drizzly day—and stopped immediately—not knowing when it’d open again. Fortunately, the market was only closed for two months, and re-opened with heavy protocols because it was deemed “essential.”

There are a few vendors that have sold their produce since its inception. Valdivia Farms is one of those produce vendors. Jesus Medina represents his father-in-law’s farm when he shows up every Thursday. “This is the most direct way to get produce from field to table. Most of my product comes from Carlsbad so it’s hours old.” Jesus is so proud of what Francisco Valdivia created for their family. “He is the American dream, he came here from Jalisco with nothing and created this legacy. And now I get to live the American dream. I associate the markets to the birth of my three sons. Seed, soil, water, and sunshine. If that’s not the American dream, I don’t know what is,”said Jesus.

Booboo’s Sweet Potato Pies is another local vendor that loves selling on Thursday mornings. Owners, Thomas and Cynthia Crain were born and raised in Oceanside. They’re OHS graduates, and get to see a lot of friends on Thursdays. “It’s my wife’s recipe,” Thomas explained. “I couldn’t find one like it anywhere. I’m so happy to sell it to customers. Business is good, and we’re real happy. We’re at capacity right now, so we would have to figure out our next steps if we want to grow.”

With a waitlist of over 95 vendors, it seems like Oceanside Farmers Market will celebrate many more milestones. Market Manager Mark Bendixen has some advice per the continued success of the Oceanside Farmers Market. “Support your local farmer, so everything doesn’t get paved over. If we don’t support them (local farmers), we’ll see less and less farms.”

Oceanside Sunset Market

At 5pm it’s “Oceanside’s party every Thursday night!” But the success of the market that currently hosts 200-plus vendors, and attracts approximately 400,000 each year was doubted. “When we started the market, people thought we wouldn’t succeed because people didn’t want to come downtown after dark. But, it was pretty obvious we had something right from the start,” said Rick Wright, CEO of Mainstreet Oceanside. The goal was to have an Oceanside weekly gathering. Cathy Nykiel oversees Sunset Market as Director of Events. She described the first year as chaotic. They even had their own mascot—a whale named “Clyde from Oceanside.”

The City of Oceanside approved the Sunset Market as a revitalization effort in the heart of downtown. Bringing business to downtown Oceanside was always the goal. Even fifteen years ago, downtown Oceanside wasn’t a destination. Mary Ann Thiem serves on the MainStreet Oceanside Board of Directors, “We did the market to help the businesses, and we definitely feel like we did that as our main goal was to create a community gathering and bring people downtown. Families come down and it’s a destination. The businesses

Years

TRAY SEIDLER

JESSE LOPEZ

ZACH CORDNER (2)

“It’s just awesome that every single Thursday, an entire moving city is constructed downtown in a tight timeframe”

followed.” Now, Downtown Oceanside pulses with energy, people mill about the carless streets, talking, eating, and enjoying the uniqueness of a fun-filled evening with the Pacific Ocean just a few blocks away.

“It’s a social mingle more than anything because people really want to get together,” stated Kim Heim, Director of Special Projects and one of the inaugural MainStreet Oceanside employees to bring Sunset Market downtown. Sunset Market was going really well, but Heim credits social media with being the tipping point— the thing that made Sunset Market a true destination. “The participants view it as theirs—that’s truly what happened.”

During the pandemic, the Sunset Market shut down from March 2020 to June 2021—a total of fifteen months. When MainStreet Oceanside got the go-ahead to re-open, they worked one month solid to get all the moving parts in place. After making the announcement, they received 100,000 engagements in one week.

On June 24, 2021, it’s almost like the market never closed down. It was a huge success, and such a welcome gathering for all of Oceanside, as a reminder of what makes Oceanside such an amazing place to live. “It reaffirmed how embedded this event is with the people. When we opened, it was like it never closed,” said Heim.

As downtown grows and changes, it’s

MainStreet Oceanside’s goal to maintain this event for Oceanside. To always preserve a space downtown for four hours that’s nothing, but a communal space. They’re even looking towards expansion of the market. One vendor that represents the best of Oceanside is Cheryl of Cheryl’s Caramels. She began selling her delicious caramels at Sunset Market in 2006. When the Sunset Market closed, she then switched to the daytime Oceanside Farmers Market as a crossover vendor. She now does both markets—making her Thursdays very busy! After working in the corporate world for 30 years, she radiated, “I just have so much fun, and I’m exactly where I want to be. I thrive in the two markets.” As an Oceanside homeowner since 1978, she’s thrilled to see a vibrant downtown. Cheryl also provided a good perspective on the businesses that attend the market. “We’re like a family, and some of these vendors are doing market research, and go on to brick-and-mortar businesses, and just keep growing.”

It’s just awesome that every single Thursday, an entire moving city is constructed downtown in a tight timeframe. The world marketplace vendors, international food court vendors, musicians, fresh and ready row vendors, are part of an orchestrated grand event. Cathy Nykiel is deemed the “Market Mother,” and keeps an intense spreadsheet on her computer, and in her head. One thing’s for sure—it’s a wonderful “mingle” for visitors and residents of Oceanside.