‘Really Free Market’ Held each month in Santa Cruz

For five years a group in Santa Cruz has been holding a free market for the community.

The first Saturday of each month the event is held at the Subrosa community space on Spruce Street and Pacific Avenue.

Community members can bring things to give away, but can also come to find things they want or need. And everything is completely free.

You can find things like food, clothes, books, cookware and games. You can bring things you don’t need or want to get rid of, but you can also just come to look for items.

Organizer Bob Majzler says it’s not only about giving and taking, it’s a way to build a new type of economy. “It’s to offer a space for people to come and get to know each other. But also to build an awareness that we can share and build alternative economies, alternative to the dominant one where people buy things one month and throw them away the next,” says Majzler.

In November the event saw close to 300 people. Organizers say they hope to continue this tradition and pass it on to others.