The Old Town Farmers Market moved one block on January 10, 2026. It left the plaza at 301 King Street for the courtyard at Tavern Square and the 100 block of North Royal Street. It still runs every Saturday, rain or shine, from 7 a.m. to noon, and the city says the temporary site holds more than 70 vendors. Visit Alexandria calls it the nation's longest-operating farmers market in one place, and that "one place" is now next door to where it has always been.
One block sounds small. Nine months in, the move has reshaped the blocks around Market Square. The doors along Royal Street and inside Tavern Square now sit on the market's main path. The doors on North Fairfax Street, on the other side of the construction fence, now sit on a detour.
One Block Over, Counted Door by Door
Visit Alexandria's September list of businesses open around the City Hall renovation is a handy map of who sits where. Sorting those addresses by which side of the fence they face shows where Saturday traffic now runs.
| Where | Business | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Market's new block | Gadsby's Tavern Museum | 134 N. Royal Street |
| Market's new block | Gadsby's Tavern Restaurant | 138 N. Royal Street |
| Inside Tavern Square | Made in ALX | 415 King Street |
| Cameron Street, next to the market | Friends to Lovers | 301 Cameron Street |
| Cameron Street, next to the market | Donna Lewis | 309 Cameron Street |
| Cameron Street, next to the market | Arielle Shoshana Perfume | 313 Cameron Street |
| Cameron Street, next to the market | American Legion Post 24 | 400 Cameron Street |
| King Street, 300 and 400 blocks | Kisso Asian Bistro | 300 King Street |
| King Street, 300 and 400 blocks | The Spice & Tea Exchange of Alexandria | 320 King Street, Gadsby's Arcade |
| King Street, 300 and 400 blocks | Life Alive Organic Cafe and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream | 400 King Street |
| North Fairfax, across the fence | Dolci Gelati | 107 N. Fairfax Street |
| North Fairfax, across the fence | Today's Cargo | 117 N. Fairfax Street |
| North Fairfax, across the fence | Carlyle House | 121 N. Fairfax Street |
Beth Lawton owns Made in ALX, the shop for local makers that moved into Tavern Square in fall 2024. In May she told ALXnow that the market's arrival has "been great for visibility and awareness." Her shop now opens at 8 a.m. on Saturdays "to catch the early birds." The store carries work from more than 50 Alexandria-based makers. On Saturdays that range now sits a few steps from the vendor tents.
North Fairfax Street, on the other side of the fence, has had a harder year. In September, Today's Cargo assistant manager Lisa Shumate told ALXnow the gift shop was having an unusually slow summer. "Business is dead right now," she said. Next door at Carlyle House, NOVA Parks Executive Director Justin Wilson listed the reasons in his own order: "the moving of the farmer's market, the loss of street parking, the loss of the parking garage and just general challenges with foot traffic." The market came first on his list.
What the Fence Took Along With the Plaza
The market's move is the most visible change, but it isn't the only one. Grunley Construction spent the first half of 2026 removing asbestos and other hazardous material from City Hall. Asbestos turned up in places nobody expected: the 1960s south façade and the east and west interior courtyards. That added 10 weeks to the schedule and pushed completion to fall 2028. Crews were set to start taking down the 1960s addition in September. A temporary pile system to stabilize the edge of the underground Market Square garage was scheduled to keep going through early fall 2026, ahead of the garage's own deconstruction.
Here is what the city has told people to expect on the ground:
- A high-reach demolition excavator on the plaza, taking the building apart one piece at a time
- More debris trucks on the approved haul route
- More noise during permitted construction hours
- Fencing and pedestrian detours around 301 King Street for as long as the work lasts
According to Visit Alexandria, the project affects North Royal, North Fairfax, King and Cameron Streets, including travel flow, sidewalks, bus stops and parking. Tour buses that used to park on King Street in front of City Hall now stop a block up, at Tavern Square. Lawton welcomes the tour groups, but she also said she wished the buses weren't on the main stretch of King Street because they cut into customer parking.
So the same block change works both ways. The move that brought the market to Tavern Square also brought the buses there. The Fairfax side lost the market and its garage together.
What's Been Asked For, and What's Being Studied
Today's Cargo owner Carla Clarke wrote to Mayor Alyia Gaskins asking for financial relief, tax and fee relief, dedicated parking, free parking passes, directional signage and city-funded advertising. Her letter argues that the businesses right around the project are "bearing a disproportionate share of the economic cost of a public improvement."
The city's response so far is an interdepartmental task force, including Visit Alexandria, that will meet monthly. Its recommendations, as reported in September:
- Partner with nearby garages and look at parking subsidies, discounts, waivers and validation that businesses could use
- Study tour bus parking, which the city expects to take several months
- Feature businesses next to City Hall in a short video series
- Give advance notice of city events and seasonal activities
- Promote available parking and waive the wayfinding participation fee for businesses
Communications director Ebony Fleming told City Council the city will check in January whether the approach is working. As of that reporting, customer parking validation was still a recommendation, not a program you can use at the register.
A Saturday Loop That Covers Both Sides of the Fence
Free parking is the one set of incentives already in place, and it is tied to market hours. Tavern Square Garage at 418 Cameron Street and Courthouse Square Garage at 111 South Pitt Street are free on Saturdays from 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Lawton said the Tavern Square garage is rarely completely full. The city's Old Town parking page lists other public options too, including North Union Street Garage at 220 North Union Street and Thompson's Alley Garage at 10 Thompson's Alley.
With a five-and-a-half-hour free window, a morning can take in the new market block and the old one:
- Park under Tavern Square before 7 a.m. and come up into the courtyard as vendors open.
- Walk the market. The 2026 vendor directory includes Blue Ridge Dairy Co., Cheese Goatees, Hog Haven Farm, Open Hand Pasta, Tae-Gu Kimchi, Lost Boy Cider, Black House Coffee Company, Metro Microgreens, hollin hall pastry shop and twig. The directory lists the season's vendors and doesn't confirm who will be there on a given Saturday.
- Stop into Made in ALX at 415 King Street once it opens at 8 a.m.
- Walk Cameron Street past Friends to Lovers, Donna Lewis and Arielle Shoshana Perfume, then cut down to Gadsby's Tavern Museum on North Royal.
- Follow the detours around to North Fairfax Street for gelato and coffee at Dolci Gelati at 107, gifts and home goods at Today's Cargo at 117, and the Georgian manor house at Carlyle House at 121.
- Get back to the car by 12:30 p.m., when the free window ends.
The last two stops are the ones the market's old route used to pass on its own. Now they take a deliberate turn past the fencing.
November 21 Already Has Two Things on It
The next big test of the reshuffled map lands on Saturday, November 21. The city's 2026 Holiday Tree Lighting is set for 6 to 8 p.m. that evening, and the city calendar still lists the location as "to be announced." The city billed last year's November 22 ceremony as the last tree lighting at the current Market Square before the renovation. Wherever the 2026 tree goes, it won't be on the plaza.
Earlier that afternoon, from 1 to 5 p.m., Alexandria's Cider Festival takes over Lloyd House at 220 North Washington Street and part of Queen Street. Along with Virginia cider tastings, live music and tavern games, this year's festival adds the VA250 Mobile Museum Experience, "Out of Many, One." That makes it a full day: the market in the morning at Tavern Square, cider on Washington Street in the afternoon, and a tree lighting in the evening at a spot the city hasn't named yet. City Hall's historic core dates to 1871, built after a fire destroyed the original 1817 town hall, and it stays behind the fence until fall 2028.
When people ask how the City Hall project is changing life around Market Square, I tell them it shows up block by block, and I keep track of it the same way. If you're thinking about how the renovation affects a home near King and Royal, or you just want to compare notes on the new Saturday route, call Christine Garner. Talk with an Old Town neighborhood expert who walks these blocks too.
