NORFOLK, Va. — A popular Saturday tradition in Norfolk is changing—the “East Beach Farmers Market” is moving.
Visitors have been stopping at the Shore Drive location on Saturdays from April to mid-November for years to get everything from baked goods to homemade dog biscuits as well as locally-produced honey and coffee.
The market is moving from a vacant lot on Shore Drive to Bay Oaks Park, a mile down the road on Ocean View.
A manager of the market told News 3 they knew the time would come for this location to be built upon.
"Construction was pushed back a couple of times due to COVID, but we knew we would have to move the market eventually," Market Manager Amy Jordan said. "That time has finally come. They’re building single-family homes here on this lot.”
Jordan said the developer is East Beach LLC, working with the Norfolk Housing Authority.
Vendors seem to be ready for the move.
Steven Doyle and his wife make and sell soaps. He said they’ve visited the new location and welcome the change.
“It’s also much nicer because it’s all shady, and there are real bathrooms in a building down there instead of the port-a-potties here,” said Steven Doyle, co-owner of NOFO Soaps “So, we’ll miss the beachy area, but we’ll gain the woodsy area.”
The farmers market will begin in the new location at Bay Oaks Park Saturday, Sept. 23 from 9 a.m. to noon.
