When the full moon of the last Friday of August climbs over the Mississippi River levee in Brusly, a new chapter begins for one of the Capital Region's fastest-growing monthly gatherings. The Full Moon Market, for nearly two years the heartbeat of downtown Plaquemine's Friday nights, is packing up its booths and moving a few miles north along the river to the new riverside park that Brusly built. On the evening of Friday, August 28, more than forty vendors will set up across Saint James Park on East Main Street, filling the space with handmade jewelry, vintage clothing, food trucks, live music, and more—the same creativity that turned a six-vendor experiment into one of the region's most anticipated monthly events.
The story of the Full Moon Market begins with a photographer who fell in love with a town many people drove past. Ashlee Bergeron, a native of Church Point in Acadiana, moved to Plaquemine in 2021 and was immediately taken with the city's historic architecture and its quiet bayou-front charm. A self-described transplant, she saw what she believed the town itself had grown too accustomed to ignoring. "I want people to know that Plaquemine is a hidden gem and that it has a lot of potential," Bergeron said. "The vision of the Full Moon Market is to bring people into Plaquemine to say 'Wow, this is a really cool town.'" She set up a photography studio, Studio C323, on Main Street, and in December 2024, she launched the Full Moon Market with just six vendors, staged on the week of the full moon in the parking lot outside her studio, with a simple mission to give local artists and makers a platform to gather and celebrate their work.
The market is timed to each full moon, a deliberate choice that gives the event a distinctive, celebratory feel. From the start, Bergeron emphasized community and quality, telling The Advocate: "The community has grown so quickly because we put our heart and soul into it. Even if nobody shops, our artists come together and have a good time."
The idea clearly struck a nerve. Within a year, the market grew into a monthly block party drawing between 400 and 700 people and more than 60 vendors, mostly from the Capital Region. Customers came from both sides of the Mississippi, filling the Main Street parking lot with the hum of a small-town festival: food trucks, live bands, dance floors, and booths of every handmade kind, from unique jewelry and vintage clothing to rare baseball cards and handmade fishing poles. Bergeron expanded the concept to a second location in Carencro, on the Acadiana side, on Saturday nights.
The market became more than just a shopping night. It anchored itself in the community by partnering with local nonprofits at every event, hosting drives for the West Baton Rouge Animal Shelter and Court Appointed Special Advocates of the 18th Judicial District, and welcoming donations of clothing and toys for children in foster care. "We want to be fully involved from the community to the nonprofit community to the economic development of towns that are overlooked," Bergeron said. In December 2025, the market celebrated its one-year anniversary with an edition named "Twilight Reverie." She went on to expand the brand beyond the night market itself, organizing a series of events in Plaquemine including the October "SpellBound on the Bayou," a children's and young adult book fair called Bookworms on the Bayou, and a BookTok Bash in Baton Rouge.
Now the market is writing its next chapter in Brusly, a town a short hop north along the river. The decision came with a warm, public thank-you to the Plaquemine community that had watched it grow. Organizers on Facebook thanked the city's residents, vendors, shoppers, and anyone who had spread the word over the years, acknowledging that Plaquemine's embrace had made the market what it is. In their new home, organizers are framing it as a "monthly night market" where the community comes together to shop local, listen to music, eat well, and support small businesses, with free admission and a family-friendly atmosphere.
The new setting is a fitting one. Saint James Park, located on East Main Street along the Mississippi River levee, provides a broad, open space for the market to spread out and grow. When the full moon rises over Brusly on the last Friday of August, the market's vendors and its many regulars will carry that same spirit with them, trading the Plaquemine parking lot where it all began for a pavilion beneath the stars along the levee. The first Brusly edition will feature over forty local vendors, food, live music, and a moonlit evening that proves, once again, that the west bank of the Mississippi has plenty to offer—if you know where to look when the moon is full.