April 01, 2025
ALBERT YEE/FAIRMOUNT PARK CONSERVANCY
The Southeast Asian Market at FDR Park in South Philadelphia will start its season Saturday, April 5. The market will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until the end of October.
FDR Park's Southeast Asian Market, which attracts dozens of vendors and crowds of shoppers each weekend, returns Saturday to start its 2025 season.
The seasonal market will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through the end of October. More than 72 merchants will offer a mix of traditional dishes and street foods, in addition to stands that sell produce, plants, clothing and jewelry.
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The market is divided into two seasons at two locations in FDR Park. From April through June, vendors set up in a picnic area near the park's entrance on South Broad Street. Then from July through October, the market is held in another picnic area near Edgewood Lake and the Taney Baseball field.
Among the vendors returning this year are Melissa Khmer BBQ, known for a variety of meat skewers and sticky rice desserts, and Stir Fry Lady who sells Lort Cha (pin noodles) made on a flat top griddle. Beez Kitchen's Cambodian BBQ food and Rom's Grill, which has Thai pork and Khmer beef sausages, also will be back. SEA Market organizers say a full list of vendors will be released ahead of the opening date.
SEA Market began informally in the 1980s when refugees from Laos and Cambodia started selling their food out of carts at FDR Park. They were later joined by merchants from Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam who turned a section of the park into a place for Southeast Asian residents to find specialty foods. The weekend market periodically faced shutdowns by police until vendors banded together to create formal organizations that represent the merchants at FDR Park.
Food & Wine magazine last year recognized SEA Market as one of the best of its kind, calling it "a sanctuary of shared experiences" and a testament to the stories of the immigrants who have made the tradition a selling point of FDR Park.
SEA Market will be closed for the Broad Street Run on Sunday, May 4, and also closes on Sundays when the Eagles play at home in September and October.
Although some vendors at SEA Market accept credit card and mobile payments, it's recommended that visitors bring cash because there are no ATMs in the park.
Saturdays and Sundays, April through October
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
FDR Park
1500 Pattison Avenue, & S. Broad Street, Philadelphia
