Hillcrest Farmers Market and Open Air Bazaar

Hillcrest Farmers Market and Open Air Bazaar operates with the Hillcrest Business Association, tying the Sunday market directly to one of the neighborhood’s business organizations rather than treating it as a stand-alone pop-up. In San Diego, the market runs year-round on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a stated count of 175 vendors and a footprint on University Avenue between Herbert Street and Park Boulevard. That combination gives Hillcrest a distinctly urban market layout: a weekly produce-and-bazaar setup placed right along one of the district’s main commercial streets.

Why it matters locally

University Avenue between Herbert Street and Park Boulevard is the market’s home corridor, placing the weekly setup directly inside Hillcrest’s business district rather than at an outlying fairground or parking lot. The Hillcrest Business Association is named among the market’s collaborators through its corporate and HBA vendors, which links the bazaar side of the market to neighborhood businesses as well as farm vendors.

The market also carries a longer local civic thread in Hillcrest’s own telling. State Senator Christine Kehoe is named among Hillcrest’s pioneering activists, and founding executive director Warren Simon is named in connection with Market Bucks, showing that the market’s identity is tied to local leadership and neighborhood organizing rather than only weekly shopping.

What you'll find there

A stated roster of 175 vendors points to a market with scale as well as variety, and the name “Open Air Bazaar” signals that the mix extends beyond a narrow produce-only stop. The market’s own vendor lineup highlights named farms and growers, giving shoppers a few clear anchors within that larger Sunday setup.

• -Find Smit Farms among the market’s listed vendors.
• -Shop from Valley Center Growers, another named vendor in the weekly lineup.
• -Look for Ken’s Top Notch on the market’s vendor roster.
• -Pick up goods from Heritage Family Farms, also listed at the market.

The market also posts special activities alongside the weekly run. One listed example is a 06/28 raffle drawing with participating vendors, adding a timed event element to the regular Sunday market.

Know before you go

No dogs are allowed, which is the clearest policy detail likely to change a Sunday plan before you leave home. Parking is comparatively straightforward for a central neighborhood market: street parking in Hillcrest is free on Sundays, free parking is available at the California DMV property at Normal Street and Lincoln Avenue, additional free street parking is noted south of University in surrounding neighborhoods off Robinson Avenue, and the USPO parking lot on Cleveland Street is another option.

One location detail matters right now. With Normal Street Promenade construction beginning in early 2025, the market is moving around the corner, while parking at the DMV remains open. The market also notes that it operates every Sunday, rain or shine, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.