Vendors will set up folding tables and canopies along Press Plaza in downtown Asbury Park on Sunday, August 23, for the next installment of the Asbury FRESH Farmers & Makers Market, running 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through late September, according to the market's official schedule.
The market sits just off Cookman Avenue, one of the city's main commercial strips, and has become a fixture of summer Sundays for shoppers moving between the beachfront and downtown storefronts. Organizer FRESH Markets lists five remaining 2026 dates for the Asbury Park location: August 23, August 30, September 6, September 13, and September 27.
FRESH Markets runs the event as part of a wider slate of New Jersey market series. The organization, founded more than 14 years ago, says its mission is to "connect local makers, food purveyors, farms, and start-up businesses with customers who care about the story behind what they buy," according to its organizer page. It currently operates market series in Asbury Park, Holmdel's Bell Works, Point Pleasant Beach, Matawan, and Red Bank, and reports more than 50,000 vendor bookings across its history.
The Asbury Park market is built around what the organizer calls "farmers & makers" — the guidelines posted for prospective sellers state that "only original producers and artisans are permitted; resale or brokering is not allowed unless specifically authorized," and any food vendor selling for on-site consumption must first clear approval from the local Board of Health.
Shoppers looking for the market on foot should aim for the plaza area off Cookman Avenue in the heart of downtown Asbury Park, the address FRESH Markets lists for the 2026 season. The market is one of several recurring Sunday and Saturday markets operating in the city and across Monmouth County; the New Jersey Department of Health's county farmers market listing for Monmouth County separately tracks a Sunday-morning market and a Saturday market in Asbury Park among the county's options for residents, part of a state program that helps connect shoppers to local produce sources.
No admission or entry fee is listed for the Asbury FRESH market. Organizers direct vendor and general questions to the market's email address or a listed text line, and post updated dates and any weather cancellations through the market's own site rather than through the city's municipal calendar.
For residents planning a Sunday downtown, the practical takeaway is simple: the market keeps its regular 9 a.m.-to-2 p.m. window on Cookman Avenue for three more dates in September before the 2026 outdoor season wraps.
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