The Antique Street Faire Turns 28 This Sunday, and Downtown Torrance Built It Itself

Who started the antique faire that takes over Sartori Avenue once a month? Many Southern California street markets are run by an outside production company that moves from city to city. Torrance's isn't. The Downtown Torrance Antique Street Faire began in October 1998, after the Downtown Torrance Association recruited two producers, Julie Randall and Miguel Salazar. The faire's own history page credits that pairing with growing the event from a start-up to more than 200 vendors.

This Sunday, October 25, the faire marks 28 years. The anniversary is a good reason to look at how much of downtown's calendar is made by the people who work on these blocks.

Sunday's Lineup on Sartori

The City of Torrance event listing has the anniversary edition running 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. along Sartori Avenue. Admission is free and pets are welcome. The city's program includes:

• 200+ vintage exhibitors, with antiques, vintage furniture, retro clothing, jewelry, books and collectibles
• Howl-O-Ween Pet Parade, and the city invites owners to bring their dogs in costume
• Live music from DJ Ozzie all day
• Downtown dining and craft beer steps from the booths

The city gives the address as 1317 Sartori Ave. A Discover Torrance listing for an earlier edition puts the booths on Sartori between Post and Marcelina. That's a compact stretch, so you can walk it end to end several times before lunch.

The Howl-O-Ween parade is the one feature on this year's list built around the October date. The Antique Street Faire is a monthly event, so the dealers are back after Sunday.

The Producers Are Also the Collectors

Randall and Salazar's ties to downtown go beyond the faire's founding. The Torrance Historical Society calls them the owners of Street Faire Antiques in downtown Torrance. Since the faire's first year, they've also been building a private soccer collection.

This spring, the Historical Society invited the pair to show that collection at its museum on Post Avenue. The Society tied the show to the 2026 FIFA World Cup and to Torrance's place as the birthplace of AYSO Soccer. According to the Society's exhibit page, the collection covers items gathered from 1998 to 2026. The exhibit was split into these sections:

The faire opened in 1998, and the collection starts in 1998. This year, the faire's founders had their collection on public display a block from Sartori Avenue.

The Historical Society lists the exhibition's run as April 15 through August 31, 2026. The city's own page for the collection gives an earlier end date of August 1. Even so, the city's listing for Sunday's faire still includes a "History of Soccer Exhibit at the Museum, 1345 Post Ave." If seeing the collection is your main reason for stopping by the museum Sunday, call the Society first at 310-328-5392 to ask what's on display.

A Museum That Keeps Faire Hours, Almost

The Torrance Historical Society & Museum is at 1345 Post Ave., at Cravens. It's normally open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. The Society suggests calling to confirm hours and notes that it closes on holiday weekends.

Because the museum is open Sundays, its hours overlap with the last three hours of the faire. If you shop the morning, eat lunch at noon and walk over afterward, you can fit in both on the same day.

Where to Eat Between Booths

The city's event page points visitors to downtown's restaurants, cafes and craft breweries. These places are a short walk from Sartori:

1. Torrance Bakery, 1341 El Prado Ave. This family-owned bakery and café serves pastries, coffee and tea, sandwiches and salads. Its website dates the original bakery to 1984, so it's older than the faire by 14 years.
2. Clutch and Coffee, 1321 El Prado Ave. A café on the same block as the bakery.
3. Marsatta Chocolate's Experience Centre, 1321 Post Ave. Discover Torrance describes it as a chocolate stop with sampling and information about how chocolate is made.
4. Red Car Brewery & Restaurant, 1266 Sartori Ave. A brewpub pouring its own English-style ales alongside a food menu. Red Car says it has been a local favorite since 2000.

The list is ordered by time of day, from coffee and pastry to chocolate to a late lunch and a pint. Local Kitchen Tavern at 1321 Sartori Ave. sits on the faire's own block, but Discover Torrance lists it as closed Sundays, so save it for another day. Several of these businesses have been around about as long as the faire, which is part of why the street can host the event every month.

Parking Before the Crowd

Every parking listing for the faire includes the Sartori public parking structure. An event listing in The MB News earlier this year also named the Bank of America lot and the Cravens public lot as free options. A 2025 Discover Torrance listing named Bank of America and Wells Fargo lots instead. The surface lots vary from listing to listing, so the Sartori structure is the safest place to aim for. Look at the signs when you arrive before using any of the others.

A Downtown October Made by Downtown Groups

Sunday's faire wraps up a month that local organizations have planned almost entirely. The Historical Society's calendar lists:

• October 3: the Downtown Torrance Association's 7th Annual Scaredown, 4 to 9 p.m., free
• October 10–11: the Historical Society's biennial Original Fall Tour of Historic Homes. Visitors toured the inside of about half a dozen Old Torrance homes and saw how owners had renovated and decorated them
• October 25: the Antique Street Faire's 28th anniversary, with the Howl-O-Ween parade

The Downtown Torrance Association held its own event this month and also started the faire in 1998. The Historical Society opened historic homes to visitors and gave the faire's producers museum space this year. The groups doing the programming are based downtown and work together. The city has also kept up the streetscape. Its FY 2026–27 proposed budget reports finished median work on Cabrillo Avenue and a new downtown banner program.

In 1998 the Downtown Torrance Association recruited two dealers to bring shoppers to Sartori Avenue one Sunday a month. This Sunday marks the 28th year, and this spring and summer those same founders' collection was on display at the museum down the street.

If a morning on Sartori leaves you curious about the old homes behind those storefronts, I'd love to hear what caught your eye and share what I know about Old Torrance. Reach out to Vertice Williams, and let's make your move happen.