Old Town Farmers Market Kicks Off a Three-Market Weekend
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¡Feliz viernes, amigos!
Market season is officially on. Saturday morning belongs to the Old Town Farmers Market in Parque Lázaro Cárdenas, with the new Vallarta Market on Friday and La Cruz on Sunday. Add Friday night blues, BBQ in the Marina, and a ranch buffet in the hills, and here is how we would spend it.
🎉 The weekend
Friday, Nov. 6th
8am to 3pm: Vallarta Market is back on the esplanade of Unidad Deportiva Agustín Flores Contreras (across from the Sheraton). Grand opening is at 9:45am with mariachi Los Galleros and 50-plus local producers, then it runs every Friday through April.
5pm: Effie Passero's birthday show at La Catrina Cantina (Lázaro Cárdenas 315B). No cover, and an easy start to the night.
8:30pm: Texas Embassy Blues Band at Nacho Daddy (Basilio Badillo 287). Free, upstairs in the air-conditioned theater, roughly 8:30 to 10:30pm. Doors open at 8pm and the line forms early, so come for dinner first. Nacho Daddy.
Saturday, Nov. 7th
9am to 2pm: Old Town Farmers Market (Parque Lázaro Cárdenas, Olas Altas). Our pick of the weekend. Around 80 vendors, all from within 75 km of PV, with produce, bread, cheese, chocolate, ready-to-eat food, and live music every Saturday.
Noon onward: The Grill Festival at the convention center (CICPV) in Marina Vallarta. BBQ competitions, live fire cooking, mixology, and a kids' zone. General admission is $300 MXN per day or $400 MXN for both days, with a 2x1 promo on the official site. Info.
3pm and 7pm: Awaysis turns four (Aquiles Serdán 625). Las Mambas play at 3pm and Bobbi + The Others at 7pm. Slice & Smash now runs the kitchen there.
Sunday, Nov. 8th
9am to 2pm: La Cruz Market on the pier at Marina Riviera Nayarit in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. Around 170 local vendors with bread, organic produce, coffee, crafts, and prepared food, plus free live music and kids' workshops from 11am to 1pm. Free entry. Bring cash since there is no ATM inside the marina, and plan your ride home since Ubers can be slow out there. La Cruz Market.
Grill Festival day two at CICPV if you missed Saturday.
Looking ahead
Next Thursday, Nov. 12th: Festival Gourmet opens with Grand Gourmet Village at TierraLuna Gardens, Garza Blanca. Details in Eat & Drink below.
🍽️ Eat & Drink
Los Tarascos, now in Zona Romántica (Lázaro Cárdenas 245). The Malecón taco institution opened its third PV location a few steps from Parque Lázaro Cárdenas, with al pastor carved straight off the trompo. Open 1pm to 3am Sunday through Thursday and until 4am Friday and Saturday, which makes it the after-blues move. Still in Las Aralias (Av. Francisco Villa 1312) and on the Malecón (Morelos 855) too. Locations and hours.
Restaurant María Cuquita (Carretera a Barra de Navidad 5530, Mismaloya). Go south for a waterfront table with a view of the bay. Seafood with mains around $210 to $310 MXN, like the cheese-stuffed María Cuquita shrimp in tamarind sauce. Open 9:30am to 8pm, closed Mondays, and cash only. Book ahead if you want a table on the edge.
Ranch breakfast in the hills. A weekend-only buffet worth the drive. Los Coapinoles at River Park (Camino Los Llanitos km 4.5, Los Almacenes) does a campestre buffet Saturday and Sunday mornings from 9am to 12:30pm with handmade tortillas, menudo, birria tacos, and pajaretes made to order. $450 MXN adults, $300 MXN kids. Info.
Market lunch in La Cruz. Skip breakfast Sunday and eat your way down the pier. The prepared food stalls are half the reason to go.
Festival Gourmet, part one. The 31st Festival Gourmet International runs Nov. 12th to 22nd. Opening night is Thursday, Nov. 12th at 7pm at TierraLuna Gardens, Garza Blanca Preserve: 26 restaurants, 50-plus tapas, 50-plus wines, and live music for $2,200 MXN per person. Chef's tables sell out, so look now. Tickets.
📌 Quick need to know
☀️ Weather: sunny to mostly sunny through the weekend. Highs around 32°C (89°F), nights near 22 to 23°C (71 to 73°F). Almost no rain in the forecast. Sunscreen by day, water for the long evenings.
🚢 No cruise ships this weekend. The next call is Disney Magic on Monday, Nov. 9th. Centro should feel calmer. Marina will still be busy around Grill Fest.
🚧 Las Palmas lane closure. SEAPAL is renewing a sewer line on Av. Las Palmas in front of the Fiscalía, so the fast lane heading west at Av. México is closed for about three weeks starting Nov. 4th. The Av. México intersection itself has reopened. Leave a few extra minutes or take another route.
🐳 Whale season dates are set. Semarnat made it official: whale-watching tours run Dec. 8th through Mar. 23rd on both sides of the bay. Whales may show up sooner, but permitted tours don't start until then. No whale watching within 1.5 km of the Marietas or in the coastal strip from Punta Mita to the Ameca River. Ask your operator for their permit before you book.
🚰 Murky tap water in Bahía de Banderas. Residents on the Nayarit side are posting videos of brown water from their taps and calling on the water utility, OROMAPAS, to fix it. If yours looks off, store clean water and report it to OROMAPAS.
Palabra del día
¡Buen provecho! (bwen proh-VEH-choh): "enjoy your meal." Sometimes just “Provecho!” Locals say it to strangers at the next table, to the cook on the way out, and to anyone eating when they walk past. Say it back, or just answer "gracias."
Example: "Con permiso, ¡buen provecho!" (Excuse me, enjoy your meal!) is what you'll hear from someone walking past your table at the La Cruz market.
That's the weekend, amigos. Catch the blues Friday, bring cash to La Cruz on Sunday, and grab those Gourmet Village tickets before Thursday. We'll see you Monday with the week ahead.
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