Malibu Farmers Market returning to Library parking lot this Sunday

By Hayley Mattson · Sat Aug 29 2026

County issues temporary day permit with assistance from City of Malibu as longer-term license and agreement continue to be finalized

The Malibu Farmers Market is returning home this Sunday, Aug. 30, to its longtime location at the Malibu Library parking lot at 23555 Civic Center Way, following a week of uncertainty over where the 27-year-old market would operate.

The return comes after Los Angeles County issued a temporary day permit allowing the market to operate at the County-owned property while Cornucopia Foundation, which operates the Farmers Market, continues working through the process of renewing its longer-term license and finalizing the necessary agreement with the City of Malibu.

The temporary permit was secured with assistance from the City, which has been working with the County and FarmersMarket founder Debra Bianco to move the market back to its former location.

The development comes just one week after the Farmers Market temporarily relocated to Malibu City Hall following the City's decision that it could no longer operate at Legacy Park.

City Manager Joe Irvin and members of his team were at City Hall early last Sunday morning, working alongside Bianco and market vendors to make the hastily arranged temporary location operational.

Following the market, Irvin told the City Council that the City was already working toward getting the Farmers Market back to the County lot.

"We are continuing to work with the farmer's market to get them back into the county approved lot where their approval had been," Irvin said. "I think we're getting very close."

Irvin said at the time that if the City and County could complete the temporary arrangements during the week, the market could return to the County property as early as Aug. 30. Otherwise, City Hall would remain available as a temporary location.

That process has now been completed for this Sunday.

Returning to a familiar location

The Library parking lot is not a new location for the Farmers Market.

For years, the County-owned property served as the market's home before construction of the Santa Monica College Malibu campus and other activity in the Civic Center area affected the space available for market operations.

The City Council authorized a temporary move to Legacy Park in November 2022, and the City subsequently processed a Temporary Use Permit for the location.

The Farmers Market later returned to the Library/County property in February 2024 and continued operating there throughout the year.

Following the Palisades Fire in January 2025, however, the County property became unavailable in connection with fire recovery operations. The Farmers Market temporarily returned to Legacy Park while the County lot was being used for recovery-related purposes.

As those operations wound down and the property became available again, Cornucopia began working with the County and City to return the market to its former location.

The issue came to a head Aug. 21 when the City announced that the market could no longer operate at Legacy Park, citing public safety, parking, permitting requirements and restrictions governing commercial activity at the park.

Despite disagreements over the timing of that decision, all sides consistently said they wanted the Farmers Market to continue and ultimately return to the County property.

Sunday's temporary permit accomplishes that immediate goal while the longer-term paperwork continues.

For Bianco, who has repeatedly described the County lot as the Farmers Market's home, the return marks an important step forward after a difficult week for the market and its vendors.

Bianco has said she remains committed to working constructively with the City and County as the remaining agreements are finalized.

While she still has concerns about how the recent relocation unfolded, she has emphasized that her priority is protecting the market, its farmers and vendors and continuing to serve the Malibu community.

"But I will continue to work hard to get us home," Bianco told The Malibu Times earlier this week.

This Sunday, the market will be home.