The Olas Altas Farmers Market reopens this Saturday, November 7, on the esplanade of Lázaro Cárdenas Park. Most guides still describe it as a November-to-April market. The Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board's listing for the new season gives a closing date of May 8, 2027. Last season closed on April 4, 2026. For Emiliano Zapata, that means the park's Saturday morning market is now scheduled to last well into spring, past the point where the calendar has ended before.
The listing gives hours of 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. every Saturday. Here is how the new season compares with the last one, and what else runs on a Saturday south of the Río Cuale.
Seventeen seasons closed in early April. The eighteenth is listed to May 8.
The tourism board called the 2025–26 market the seventeenth season at Lázaro Cárdenas Park. That listing said the market would run "from November 1st to the end of high season," and its posted end date was April 4, 2026. The 2026–27 listing opens a week later in the calendar and closes more than a month later.
| 2025–26 season | 2026–27 season | |
|---|---|---|
| Opening Saturday | November 1, 2025 | November 7, 2026 |
| Listed closing Saturday | April 4, 2026 | May 8, 2027 |
| Saturdays in the listed span | 23 | 27 |
| Location | Esplanade, Lázaro Cárdenas Park | Lázaro Cárdenas Park |
| Hours | 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. | 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. |
Count the Saturdays between the posted dates and the new season has four more than last year's: one fewer at the start, five more at the end. Those counts come straight from the dates and assume the market runs every week, holiday Saturdays included. The listings don't say whether it does. This season's span includes Saturday, December 26 and Saturday, January 2, so the organizers' own posts are the place to check those weeks.
The extra weeks change what the season covers. Under last year's schedule, the final market day came the first Saturday of April. Under this one, the market is still set up at the park through all of April and into the second week of May. Last year, those five Saturdays had no market on the esplanade.
The tourism board adds a standard note to every event page. Dates and details come from organizers at the time of posting, and readers should confirm with the event itself. The market's Olas Altas Farmers Market Facebook page is the channel the board points to. Check it before the first Saturday too. One other local listing gives a 9:30 a.m. start for the same market, while the tourism board gives 9:00.
How a Púlpito Street stall became the park's Saturday
In a December 2025 overview of the city's seasonal markets, the tourism board traces it to Púlpito Street. There, Alberta-born chocolatier Charlotte Semple, later known for Xocodiva, started a small producer-driven market with a few vendors, shaped by the ideas of the Slow Food movement. As more producers, artists and shoppers joined, the market moved to the Lázaro Cárdenas Park esplanade.
Some visitors still know it by its older name. For years, people knew the same market as the Old Town Farmers Market, or Tianguis Cultural, and some guides now list it as Olas Altas "ex-Old Town." If a hotel concierge or an older guidebook sends someone to the Old Town Farmers Market, they end up at the same park.
The tourism board's December 2025 piece says an Organizing Committee chooses the goods to match the market's motto:
"Homegrown and Handmade."
The same piece lists organic food, international dishes, vegan options, traditional Mexican crafts, textiles and clothing from local designers, fine art, musical instruments and custom jewelry. It also mentions homemade jams, organic honey, breads and cheeses, live music and Huichol art. The 2025–26 season listing counted more than 100 local producers and added pet products to the mix.
A 2016 account from the tourism board, from when the market went by Old Town Farmers Market–Tianguis Cultural, described how it worked then. Vendors were registered businesses that paid their taxes and lived within 75 kilometers of Puerto Vallarta. That's an older description. A current event directory uses the same 75-kilometer wording and counts more than 80 vendors.
The December 2025 overview also describes the setting. Morning light comes through the large parota trees on the esplanade, and the waves of Playa Los Muertos can be heard from the park.
A Saturday morning south of the river
The longer season also means the park's market will overlap with a smaller Saturday market a few blocks north on Isla Cuale. In order of opening time:
- Olas Altas Farmers Market, Lázaro Cárdenas Park esplanade, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Opens November 7 and is listed through May 8, 2027.
- Naturally Mazcal Weekend Market, East Isla Cuale, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. It's run from the Mazcal Naturals location on Isla Río Cuale. Its listing on ShowMePV names herbal supplements, handcrafted Mexican items, Sierra Madre coffees and art, with upcoming Saturdays on October 31, November 7, November 14 and November 21. Details are on the Mazcal Naturals website.
The two markets keep different calendars. Naturally Mazcal is already running before the park market reopens. A Vallarta Daily event listing carried an August 1, 2026 date for it, well outside the farmers market season. Its later closing time leaves room to finish at the park and walk up to the island before it packs up.
The Sunday market at the same park has no new dates posted
The Saturday market isn't the only market Lázaro Cárdenas Park has hosted. In November 2024, the Colonia Emiliano Zapata Neighborhood Association started Sabores Locales, a Sunday producers' market at the park from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It sold only fresh produce from farmers and prepared food from producers in Puerto Vallarta and the region. The tourism board's Sabores Locales listing covers its first season only, from November 3, 2024 to April 27, 2025. No 2026–27 dates appear there. The association's Zona Romantica Puerto Vallarta Facebook page is the contact the listing gives.
The separate Isla Cuale Weekend Artisan Market is in the same position. Its listing shows one date, Saturday, February 7, 2026, and nothing after it.
So for now, the Saturday market at the park is the only one of the neighborhood's seasonal markets with a full 2026–27 calendar posted.
What May 8 means for the park
The 2025–26 listing tied the season's end to "the end of high season." The 2026–27 listing sets a firm date instead, and that date is five weeks later. For anyone in Emiliano Zapata, the Saturday market at Lázaro Cárdenas Park is now on the calendar for every month from November through the second week of May. The first Saturday is November 7. The last listed Saturday is May 8, 2027.
At Daniel Alvarez, we follow the Romantic Zone's weekly calendar as closely as its property market, because the two are tied together. If you own in Emiliano Zapata or are getting to know the neighborhood, and want to talk about how its Saturday routine and the longer season fit your plans, get in touch. We're always glad to compare notes over coffee from the market.
