Porter Avenue Market open every Saturday in Ocean Springs

It was the little market that could, Ocean Springs’ Saturday market on Porter Avenue began just a few months ago and is on the rise.

Joyce and Donald Champion are trying to get the word out – it’s an up-and-coming weekend market that takes place every Saturday, weather permitting, when the craftsmen of Ocean Springs and beyond sell their wares.

Plants, toys, and from the Champions, unique pepper jelly and other canned recipes.

Joyce helped start the marketplace in October, and she and Donald have been setting up their booth ever since. The canned goods they sell are so popular, Rouse’s grocery store will soon start selling her crawfish pepper jelly.

Donald says if you want to keep seeing local sellers on Porter Avenue, shop local. “If this type of business doesn’t make a storefront, they can only set up here, most are mom and pop things that go to different markets – if you don’t come out and buy them, then they go somewhere else.”

Artists are among the market’s mainstays. Take a look at these handcrafted coasters, which shimmer and change color in the sunlight. Local artist Steven Bosarge sells prints that are intricate and stylized. We asked him what his favorite part about the market is. “I love people, and there’s good people in the world. I know sometimes it’s hard to realize that when you’re watching the news, but there’s lots of good people – good people down here in the south.”

“Just a camaraderie you don’t see anywhere else, I guess. Markets are like that – they’re personal, you’re right there up front.”