Hilton Head Community Market at Shelter Cove Park

What You’ll Find at the Market

The Hilton Head Community Market is a food market first. Most of the stalls under the white tents on the park lawn sell things to eat: fresh produce, local seafood, bread and baked goods, coffee roasted on the island, sauces and seasonings. Around them are a smaller number of makers selling jewelry, soap, art, coastal gifts and pet treats, because the organisers keep non-food stalls to a limited share. Which vendors come varies a little from week to week.

Visitors who review it on Google like the mix of vendors and the relaxed Saturday feel: one first-timer on holiday had shrimp peeled to order at the seafood stall and left with a bag of island coffee beans. Produce follows the season, so a winter market can be down to one fruit and vegetable stand while spring and summer bring more. It is dog-friendly, and plenty of people bring theirs.

A Market That Gives to Local Nonprofits

Four local business owners started the market as volunteers in the fall of 2022, because they wanted a community market on Hilton Head on Saturday mornings. They still run it unpaid, with the Island Recreation Association as its sponsor. Half of all the booth fees vendors pay goes each month to a different local nonprofit. The year’s recipients are chosen in advance, with Beaufort and Jasper county groups preferred, and have included the Hilton Head Humane Association, Sea Turtle Patrol HHI, the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra and Bike Walk HHI.

Besides the weekly market there are themed ones through the year, for St. Patrick’s Day, the Fourth of July and Small Business Saturday after Thanksgiving. The market posts these, and any rare cancellation for extreme weather, on its Facebook and Instagram pages.

Visiting the Saturday Market

The market sets up in Shelter Cove Community Park, behind Shelter Cove Towne Centre off William Hilton Parkway. Parking is free, and there is no gate to Shelter Cove. It runs from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., so come early for the best of the produce. The park’s restrooms and playground are right there, which makes it an easy outing with children, and the Towne Centre’s bakery and coffee shops are a short walk away.

On the south end of the island, the Sea Pines Farmers Market runs on Tuesdays from March to November, so a week’s stay can take in both. For more to do around the park, see our Shelter Cove guide.

Selling at the Hilton Head Community Market

Vendors bring their own tent and setup and need a current Town of Hilton Head Island business license. A stall costs $25 a market, or $20 a market if you commit to a whole month. Food comes first, and places for other goods are limited. Applications are made through the market’s website, and since the managers are volunteers, they answer email on weekdays.