The Milly Market started its 2025 season on Friday, April 4, at 4 p.m. 

The market is an open-air market, where vendors come from around the Baldwin County and Milledgeville area to sell a variety of homemade goods, produce and other items. 

This event will be held every first and third Friday of every month between April and October. 

The marketplace is located at the pavilion on 222 E. Hancock St., which is within walking distance of Downtown Milledgeville and the GCSU campus.

With this past Friday being the first Milly Market of the year, many GCSU students and community members attended the event. 

Ellen Gunji, a sophomore art major, visited the Milly Market for the first time this Friday. 

“It was really cool,” Gunji said. “I got some fig jam and blueberry muffins, which I’m very excited about.”

The market hosts a variety of local businesses, which all specialize in different products. 

“There were a lot of cool stalls to shop around,” Gunji said. “They had plants, handmade bowls, soaps, candles. and way more. It was hard not to buy everything.”

The Milly Market provides businesses, within Milledgeville and the surrounding areas, a venue to sell and promote their goods. 

Brenna Gilbert, a junior nursing major, also experienced the market for the first time on Friday. 

“I think it’s a great way to support the community,” Gilbert said. “It’s nice to buy products that you know were made or produced right here in the area.”

“I really enjoyed the market,” Gilbert said. “I will definitely go again.”

For gardeners and people with green thumbs, many of the stalls have live plants for sale.

“We got free mint plants when we got to the market, I thought that was really nice,” Gilbert said, “I’m going to add it to my little plant stand at home.”

There were many food vendors at Friday’s market: two stalls specialized in jams and preserves, a unique stall offered various kinds of mushrooms, multiple stalls were selling fresh vegetables and one stall had baked goods, ranging from fresh focaccia loaves, to croissants and cookies. 

Michael Edwardson, a sophomore marketing and accounting major, enjoyed the selection of produce at the market. 

“I was looking at the table with the baked goods,” Edwardson said, “they all looked great.”

The vendors and products at Milly Market are not fixed. Visitors at the future markets will be able to choose from new and interesting products based on the changing seasons and businesses.

“More people should go,” Gunji said. “I didn’t know about it before this, and I’m glad I went.”

There are two more opportunities to visit before spring semester ends though the market will continue hosting vendors throughout the summer and into the fall 2025 semester. 

“I’m going to try to go to one of the next markets,” Edwardson said. “I want to go again before the end of this semester.”

The Milly Market offers a unique way to shop within Milledgeville that differs from conventional grocery shopping. It provides a space to purchase accessible and affordable produce and locally made goods, and the open-air venue creates a distinct farmers market feel.  

The market is also approved for the use of double SNAP EBT. SNAP EBT is a USDA Food and Nutrition Service program that provides benefits to help individuals purchase food and groceries. This program allows attendants from all backgrounds to be able to purchase fresh and sustainable products. 

The Milly Market is an essential part of the community and creates connections between local businesses and citizens. Students can keep up with new information about the market on its Instagram, Facebook or on the Milly Market website. 

New updates regarding what products will be available, seasonal produce and event information are regularly added throughout the Milly Market season.