Why Shallotte's Market Still Hasn't Moved Back to Mulberry Park

Every so often a longtime Shallotte resident wanders over to Mulberry Park on a Saturday morning expecting the usual row of vendor tents, handmade goods, fresh produce, someone's kid selling lemonade next to the crafts table, and finds only an empty lawn. The market isn't gone. It's a few minutes away at the Riverwalk, and it has been for a while now, longer than most people realize.

That's the part worth sitting with. This isn't a one-summer inconvenience that will sort itself out by fall. It's an arrangement that started back in 2024 and, based on the town's own paperwork, still doesn't have a finish line. If you've been assuming the market would eventually move back home to Mulberry Park now that some time has passed, the town's most recent board agenda suggests you shouldn't hold your breath.

What Sent the Vendors to the River, and Why It's Still That Way

The relocation traces back to an expansion project across the street from the amphitheater. In August 2024, WWAY TV3 reported that construction had begun on new amenities for Mulberry Park, including a playground and a kayak launch on the Shallotte River, and that access to the park from Mulberry Street would be closed at times during the work. The town's arrangement at the time was straightforward: during construction, all specialty markets would move to the Riverwalk.

Nearly two years later, that's still where they are. The Shallotte Board of Aldermen's May 5, 2026 meeting agenda lists "Mulberry Street Project Change Orders" as an active agenda item, which means the project is still being adjusted, not wrapped up. Whatever "temporary" meant when the market first packed up for the river, it has stretched well past a single construction season.

The Riverwalk itself, in the meantime, has become the default home for Market-Fest. It's a quarter mile boardwalk along the Shallotte River with a gazebo at each end, according to the Town of Shallotte's own page, built originally for a slower kind of visit than a market brings, a stroll, a spot to watch for blue herons, egrets, and the occasional alligator regulars have nicknamed Shally. Folding a weekly market into that setting was framed as a stopgap. Two years in, it's simply how Saturdays at the river work now.

The Concerts Never Left

Unlike the market, the town's long-running Thursday night concert series stayed put on the amphitheater side of Mulberry Street the whole time. The venue at 123 Mulberry Street, tucked behind Zaxby's off Main Street, is still hosting live music every Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m., with the town's published 2026 lineup naming acts into early September and outside listings confirming the series runs through September 10.

Here's what's left on the calendar from today forward:

So if you show up on a Thursday expecting the market booths that used to line the edge of the lawn, you'll find a full concert and an empty stretch of grass where the vendors used to be. Two years into this arrangement, the market crowd and the concert crowd still aren't automatically the same crowd on the same night.

The Dry Summer Sitting Alongside All of This

None of the construction timeline has anything to do with another thread running through Shallotte's summer, but it's worth knowing about if you've been outside much lately. A lightning strike sparked what became known as the Quarry Road Fire just outside Shallotte on Friday, July 10. The fire grew to roughly 500 acres at its peak before crews brought it down to about 283 acres and 50 percent containment, according to reporting from the Brunswick Beacon.

That same week, worsening drought conditions pushed Brunswick County into a Stage 3 Water Shortage Warning, which prohibits automated outdoor irrigation systems countywide. If your lawn, or your neighbor's, has looked a little rougher than usual this August, that's the reason, and it's worth checking the county's current water status page before you run a sprinkler system you assumed was still fine to use on a timer. None of this changes what's happening at Mulberry Park or the Riverwalk, but it's part of the same summer backdrop, one more way this stretch of Brunswick County has looked and felt different than usual.

Filling the Time Between the Booths and the Band

Since Market-Fest now sits closer to the river than to Main Street, the short walk from the Riverwalk into downtown has a different set of stops worth knowing. Azio Media, an independently owned shop carrying vinyl records, books, and other media, sits along Main Street for anyone looking to browse after a morning at the market. The Fancy Flea Antique Mall and Miss Minnie's Antiques are both a few minutes away for anyone in the mood to dig through something older.

On the food side, the Riverwalk's role as market host puts it within easy reach of Salty Cow Tavern, which sits along the Shallotte River itself and has leaned into waterfront seating as its draw. Wing & Fish Company, a downtown spot that sources its seafood from the Ocean Isle Fishing Center fleet, is a short drive back toward Main Street, alongside Duffer's Bar and Grill and Lucca Italian Chophouse for anyone stringing a market morning into a longer afternoon.

Two Centers of Gravity, With No Set End Date

The Mulberry Street project will eventually close out, and Market-Fest may well move back to its old spot once it does. But with change orders still showing up on board agendas as of May 2026, there's no posted date for when that happens, and residents who keep expecting a return to the old setup are working off an assumption the town hasn't confirmed. For now, Shallotte has two separate centers of gravity on a given week, live music at the amphitheater, vendor tents down at the river, and there's no sign yet of them sharing an address again.

It's a small thing as far as town changes go, but it's the kind of detail that only shows up if you're tracking Shallotte closely rather than assuming it looks the way it did a couple of summers back.

If you're thinking about your next move in Shallotte or anywhere else along the Brunswick County coast, Deborah Morgan would love to help you figure out what's next. Let's Connect.