Fullerton's Oldest Farmers Market Moves Downtown for a Season of Ghosts and Altars

"When we were putting up the exhibit, I almost became one of the statistics," says Georgette Collard, curator at the Fullerton Museum Center. She is describing a ladder. In her current show, Final Rites, a grizzly bear stands next to a skeleton climbing a ladder. Visitors spin a wheel and find out that fatal ladder falls happen far more often than deadly bear attacks.

The exhibit is one piece of a downtown fall that has a lot to do with mortality. Between now and early November, Fullerton has a Halloween ghost tour, two separate Día de los Muertos celebrations, a costume-and-candy night on the plaza and a museum show about Victorian mourning. On October 14 one more regular arrives downtown. It is the city's Wednesday farmers market, which is moving in for the season.

The Plaza Between Seasons

Through the spring and summer, the Downtown Plaza at 125 E. Wilshire Ave. had a weekly rhythm. The Thursday Fullerton Night Market ran its 2026 season from April 2 through September 3. After that, the city's October calendar for the plaza showed scattered one-off events on October 10, 24 and 25, but nothing that repeats week to week.

That gap is now filled. Starting October 14, the Wednesday Certified Farmers' Market will temporarily leave Independence Park at 801 W. Valencia Dr. and set up at the Downtown Plaza. Hours stay the same, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The city's notice doesn't give a reason or say when the market will go back. The City Council approved an Independence Park Revitalization Project in January 2026. Its first phase covers an adaptive playground, restrooms, landscaping, irrigation and upgrades inside the gym. According to the city's project page, construction hadn't started yet and staff were still preparing bid documents. The city hasn't tied that project to the market's move, and the page gives no timeline. For now, "temporarily" is the only word on how long the market stays downtown.

Moving is nothing new for this market. The city believes it is the oldest farmers market in Orange County, and it has changed homes several times over 45 years:

• August 1981: Opens at the old Ford School property, now Ford Park, at Wilshire and Richman avenues
• 1984 to 2007: Woodcrest Park
• 2007: Independence Park
• Pandemic years: The Fullerton Public Library's parking lot
• July 7, 2021: The Fullerton Community Center, across Commonwealth Avenue
• August 8, 2025: Back to Independence Park
• October 14, 2026: Downtown Plaza, temporarily

The Downtown Plaza is new to that list. The vendors and the produce stay the same. Expect fruit, vegetables, eggs, honey, plants, orchids, nuts and bread, run by the nonprofit Fullerton Certified Farmers' Market Board. Farmers drive in from as far south as Brawley and as far north as Fresno.

Wednesday Morning, Then Noon on Pomona

The new location makes for an easy Wednesday pairing. The market wraps up at 12:30 p.m. The Fullerton Museum Center, at 301 N. Pomona Ave., opens Wednesdays at noon.

Final Rites: Death, Mourning, & Beyond runs from September 5, 2026, through January 3, 2027. According to Roy Rivenburg's Fullerton Observer review, the show has three themes. The first is the many ways people have died, from venomous animals to clothing laced with arsenic. The second is Victorian funeral customs, including a spooky mechanical doll. The third is attempts to reach the dead with Ouija boards and scrying mirrors. One display explains that falling vending machines are more dangerous than sharks. The objects range from a puffer fish to a radioactive ceramic pitcher.

Collard told the Observer that she got the idea while watching reruns of the TV series "1000 Ways to Die." Planning the displays, finding artifacts and building interactive props took a year. She wanted the show to combine history, science and folklore in a family-friendly way that gets visitors talking about a topic most people avoid.

Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children 5 through 17. Children under five and museum members get in free. If Wednesday afternoons don't work, Thursday has the latest hours, open until 8:30 p.m.

The Last Week of October Belongs to Downtown

Over the last week of October, the plaza and the museum host the season's biggest nights.

OktoBOOfest, Thursday, October 29. The city's Halloween event takes over the Downtown Plaza with vendors, food, a kids' corner, trick-or-treating, entertainment and contests. It falls on a Thursday, the same night the Night Market used the plaza through early September.

Haunted Fullerton Walking Tour, Special Halloween Edition, Saturday, October 31. The tour starts at the Fullerton Museum Center with a cocktail mixer hosted by the ghost guides. Tickets include one prepaid drink coupon and access to the Final Rites galleries. The route covers about 1.5 miles and includes some stairs. The museum says it changes every time, isn't recommended for children under 13, and ends at 8:30 p.m. Anyone who needs special accommodations should let museum staff know before arriving. The museum is also taking applications from people who want to become ghost guides.

Two Days of the Dead, a Week Apart

When Halloween ends, the season turns from ghost stories to remembrance. Fullerton has two Día de los Muertos events, at two venues on two weekends.

The first is at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center, 1201 W. Malvern Ave. Its Día de los Muertos Festival runs Sunday, November 1, from noon to 4 p.m., with free admission. The Muck lists live music, local artisans, family art activities and an arts and crafts sale. The festival shares the weekend with the Muck's Artistic License Fair, which runs October 31 and November 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The fair has more than 50 regional artisans, and admission and parking are free. On Sunday the two overlap from noon to 4 p.m.

The second is back downtown. On Saturday, November 7, from 4 to 8 p.m., the Fullerton Museum Center hosts Noche de Muertos with community altars, live music, a beer garden, face painting, crafts and local vendors. Final Rites is still open upstairs that night, which means the evening's altars sit under the same roof as an exhibit about Victorian mourning.

The Full Calendar

None of the event pages show when they were last updated, so check times with each venue before you go.

Off the Downtown Grid

A few dates away from downtown round out the season. Pup-toberfest takes over Hunt Branch Library on Sunday, October 11, from 1 to 5 p.m., with a dog race and vendors. The Fullerton Arboretum holds Storytime in the Garden near its Children's Garden on Tuesday, October 13, from 9:30 to 10 a.m. Sessions continue on the second Tuesday of each month through December. The Arboretum's annual California Native Plant Sale runs November 6 through 8, with separate hours each day. Fall is a good season to plant natives, so look up the hours before you head over.

Hillcrest Park has its own act of remembrance this fall. The park's World War II memorial was restored and rededicated on September 29, the Fullerton Observer reported. The guardrails near the Izaak Walton League Cabin have been repaired. The redwood grove connected to the memorial still needs a public replanting process. The memorial is open now, and the grove is still a work in progress.

Do you have a favorite Fullerton tradition this time of year, or a question about how the market's move affects your Wednesday mornings? I'd love to hear from you. Local calendars like this one are a big part of how I help clients understand a place, whether they've lived here for decades or are just starting to look. Reach out to Gina Oddo and let's connect.