The Boca Green Market has left Royal Palm Place. It opened its 2026–27 season on Sunday, Sept. 27, at the 5th Avenue Shops, 1954 NE Fifth Ave. It runs every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through May 2, 2027. Delray Beach's GreenMarket opens its own season 27 days later, on Saturday, Oct. 24. For a household in Bel Marra, those two markets now split the weekend by day and by direction. Saturday points north toward Old School Square. Sunday points south down Federal Highway to a strip-center lot with a Publix as its anchor.
The City of Boca Raton's GIS map places Bel Marra east of Federal Highway and north of Yamato Road. Both markets are a straight run on US-1 from there. Neither one sits right next door. The useful question for this season is which one fits which kind of Saturday or Sunday morning.
Same Landlord, a Different Block
The move is less of an upheaval than it looks. Investments Limited, the family company of Jim and Marta Batmasian, has owned Royal Palm Place since 1987, according to the Sun Sentinel. The same company lists both Royal Palm Place and 5th Avenue Shoppes among its flagship Boca Raton properties. So the market has moved from one of the landlord's centers to another, north along the same highway.
None of the coverage of the opening explains why the market moved, and this post doesn't guess. The Boca Raton Tribune did report on Royal Palm Place in February. The Community Redevelopment Agency voted 5-0 to amend the Royal Palm Place Hotel project. The hotel shrinks to 137 rooms, and a seven-story parking structure with 501 spaces replaces the underground parking approved earlier. The commission required the garage to be built before the hotel. That project is now part of downtown's near-term future, whatever role it did or did not play in the market's new address.
For the shopper, the practical change is parking. The Coastal Star reports free parking at the new site and calls the market dog friendly. The market's own press release repeats that admission and parking are both free.
The calendar shifted a little too. Last season the market ran Oct. 5, 2025, through May 3, 2026, at Royal Palm Place. This season started the last Sunday of September, eight days earlier on the calendar than last year's Oct. 5 opener.
What a Sunday at 5th Avenue Shops Holds
The market's website promises more than 65 local vendors. The categories are produce, artisan breads, handmade goods, craft drinks, specialty foods, candles and soaps, plus live music. The September press release adds local honey, fresh flowers, gourmet treats and fairy hair to the list. For families it mentions a bounce house and lawn games.
No vendor list for this season has been published yet. The most recent named stall in local press comes from the Tribune's February 2026 profile of the Royal Palm Place market. It mentioned Fairy Chrissy's Enchanted Knot Fairy Hair, an unnamed French baker, Colombian pastries, and ice cream and popsicle sellers. Those names describe last season. A few weeks of Sundays at the new site will show which ones made the move.
The new address does something Royal Palm Place never did. It puts the market in the same plaza as a full grocery store with Sunday-morning hours. The Fifth Avenue Shops Publix has anchored the center since 1961. It opens at 7 a.m. on Sundays and has an in-store bakery. That changes how a market morning works.
- Specialty first, staples second. Walk the market for the honey, the flowers and whatever the bakers bring that week. Then fill in milk, paper goods and anything perishable at Publix before loading the car.
- One parking spot, two errands. The market's free parking is in the same lot as the store, so there's no second stop on the drive home to Bel Marra.
- Lunch on the same frontage. Panda Express opened its first stand-alone Boca Raton location at 1914 NE 5th Ave. on Aug. 18. It opens daily at 11 a.m., two hours before the market closes.
The opening-day program also showed the community side of the market. It held a September 11 tribute, and at noon Firefighter Johnny Schroeder presented a piece of World Trade Center steel to an unnamed recipient. A 50/50 raffle that day benefited Changing Lives and Tri-County Rescue.
"Our goal has always been to create a place where people can support local businesses, discover amazing artisans, and spend quality time with family and friends." Chrissy Hembree, Green Market Coordinator, in the market's 2026–27 season announcement
Saturday Points North Starting Oct. 24
Delray Beach's GreenMarket is the other half of the weekend, and it's built differently. This is its 31st season, and it has a new market manager, Nathan Little. It sets up in the commons at Old School Square, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Oct. 24 through May 22.
The Coastal Star counts about 70 vendors in Delray, a little more than Boca's 65-plus. The mix leans further into groceries. Delray lists farmers and growers, dairy, seafood, plants and chef cooking demonstrations alongside the breads, honey and sauces. Delray also accepts SNAP, and its Fresh Access Bucks program offers $40 toward produce or fresh food. Parking is free in the garage.
The two markets don't compete for the same morning. Delray runs on Saturday and stays open an hour later. Boca runs on Sunday, ends at 1 p.m., and shares a parking lot with a grocery store. For Bel Marra, that makes it practical to do the bigger produce-and-seafood shop in Delray on Saturday and use Sunday in Boca for flowers, baked goods and the week's staples.
The Saturdays Delray Skips
Delray's market pauses three times this season to make room for downtown events. The Coastal Star lists the closures as:
- Dec. 12, for the holiday parade
- March 13, for the St. Patrick's Day Festival
- April 10, for the Delray Affair
Each of those weekends still has a market. Boca's Sunday schedule runs straight through to May 2, so the Sunday after each Delray closure becomes the main shopping trip. The Delray dates fall well inside Boca's season. Delray then keeps going nearly three weeks after Boca closes for the summer, through May 22.
A Third Option Opens in November
For a longer Saturday drive, the Lake Worth Beach Farmers Market opens Nov. 7. It sets up at Old Bridge Park, at the northeast corner of the bridge at State Road A1A and Lake Avenue, every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Vendors sell local produce, seafood, orchids and baked goods along the waterway. The Coastal Star describes it as dog friendly, rain or shine, with free parking. It's the farthest of the three from Bel Marra. It's also the one for a waterside morning where the shopping comes second.
All three markets post vendor news week to week, and the Coastal Star suggests following each one's social media for updates. Boca's website also has a weekly email list. The newsletter is the simplest way to learn which of last season's stalls came north with the market.
Market season shows how easy daily life in Bel Marra can be, and that ease belongs in how a home here is presented. If you're thinking ahead to a sale, Dana Ocampo and the Dana and Mandy Team can show you how we'd describe your home's place in that Saturday-and-Sunday routine to buyers. Get Your Free Home Valuation & Customized Marketing Plan.
