Ten minutes before eight on a Sunday morning, Ivar Avenue is still empty. The tents are up, the tables are set, and you can hear boxes sliding into place. No crowd yet.
Except at two or three stalls, where a line has already formed. The market has not opened.
That is the whole lesson of this place, learned in one look.
Come earlier than you think you need to
The market opens at eight. If you get there at eight, you are already behind.
The growers everyone knows — the strawberry people, the egg people — have a line before the aisle is even open. Arrive an hour early and you get a short wait, an easy parking spot, and the soft early light that makes everything on the table look like it was just picked.
It runs until one. But once noon passes, some vendors start folding their tables and loading up. If you want to wander slowly rather than race the clock, be there before ten.
What you will find
More than 150 farmers, producers and makers come in from across California, so the aisles change with the season. Early in the year it is citrus and ranunculus. By late spring the strawberry tables take over, and the stone fruit follows right behind.
Vegetables are the part I find hardest to walk past. Radishes still dusty from the field, baby artichokes, fava beans in the pod, trays of microgreens cut while you wait.
It is not only produce. There are pasture-raised eggs by the flat, meat from small ranches, cheese, nuts and dried fruit, and a seafood truck with the day’s catch on ice.
If you get hungry while you walk, there is coffee, there are pastries, and there are tacos and dumplings further along. A few stalls sell ceramics, candles and jewelry, so it is worth a slow loop even on a morning when you are not cooking.
And then there are the flowers
This is where I always lose track of time.
The whole walk, in under a minute
What to know before you go
- Sundays only, 8:00am to 1:00pm, rain or shine.
- 1600 Ivar Avenue, at the corner of Ivar and Selma in Hollywood.
- Bring cash. Plenty of stalls take cards, but cash moves faster and you will want it for parking.
- EBT/CalFresh is accepted, with Market Match adding up to $15 a week toward produce. WIC and Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program checks are taken as well.
- Bring a sturdy bag — or better, a cart. You will buy more than you planned. If you forget one, there is a “Take A Bag, Leave A Bag” table with free reusable bags.
Parking
There is a lot right at the entrance. It is the easiest option and the closest, but it costs more, and it is often the kind of lot where someone stands at the gate and takes your money directly — which has usually meant cash. Set aside a few bills for parking before you go.
If you don’t mind a short walk, the theater garage over on Sunset is cheaper. One thing to know: that early in the morning the theater isn’t open, so there is nobody to validate for you. You pay at the machine on your way out. The market’s own website lists validated rates, so take those as a best case rather than what you’ll actually pay at eight in the morning.
I’d drive if you can. Whatever you tell yourself on the way in, you come out carrying more than you expected — which is exactly why so many people are pulling carts.
Worth setting an alarm for
Cool air that hasn’t burned off yet, a coffee in one hand, tents down both sides of the street. Even on a morning when you buy nothing, one slow loop is enough to put you in a good mood for the rest of the day.
If you live in Los Angeles, or you’re planning a visit, keep one Sunday morning open. It helps to think of it as a walk rather than a shopping trip. The shopping happens anyway.
Do you have a farmers’ market you go back to? Is there one thing you always come home with? Tell me in the comments.
Hollywood Farmers’ Market
1600 Ivar Ave (at Selma), Los Angeles, CA 90028
Sundays, 8:00am–1:00pm, rain or shine
Over 150 farmers, producers and food artisans
