Photos: Farmers Market Makes Capitola Debut

Starting today, and every Thursday that follows, the parking lot at the Capitola Mall will be . On its opening day, it was dotted with around 30 white tents filled with colorful produce and local delicacies from soap to olive oils to artisan nuts.

The farms participating range from conventional and organic farms from all over the central coast, to , to a few local gems like .

"There was a strong need for [the Farmers Market] in Capitola, as indicated by the residents of Capitola," said Capitola Mall Leasing Manager Lisa Porter. "We're a small city and there's not a lot."

Porter said that they chose Thursday to hold the market because there are no other local markets on that day with which they would be competing.

The Capitola Mall Farmers Market isn't messing around. It now has 50 vendors signed up to participate, many of whom will be joining in June.

Opening day also included a massage station and live music, which will hopefully stick around in future weeks. 

By 11 a.m., there were several local shoppers strolling the market, despite a smattering of raindrops and blustery weather. There was ample space in the two long corridors of vendors for more customers, but it's space that is surely going to be filled once news of the market catches on, and when sunny days are more frequent.

"We do a vintage motorcycle show in the same space in June," said Carrie Arnone of the Capitola-Soquel Chamber of Commerce. "It's central, it's got plenty of parking, there's plenty of space and it's perfect for this kind of thing."

The Capitola Mall Farmers Market will run every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. now until November 15. It will shut down for the holidays and then start back up again in early spring. The Capitola Mall is located at 1855 41st Avenue, in Capitola.

Did you go to the market's opening day? Will go you again? What did you think? If you didn't go, do you plan on going in the future? Tell us in the comments!

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