Every Sunday, the corner of 19th and Q Streets NW in Dupont Circle turns into an open air marketplace as the Dupont Little Flea Market sets up its vendor tables just steps from the neighborhood’s well known FreshFarm farmers market. The two markets run in tandem, giving Sunday visitors a chance to pick up produce and then wander a few yards over to browse vintage housewares, antique furniture, artwork, jewelry, vinyl records, and locally made crafts, all under one roof of pop up tents on a stretch of sidewalk and street that Dupont Circle regulars have come to treat as a weekend ritual.
The market was founded in May 2019 by John Harvey, a DC resident who left a career of more than twenty years in global philanthropy to build the flea market from scratch. That career change is part of what gives the market its particular character. Rather than a commercial event run by a property management company or a for profit promoter, Dupont Little Flea grew out of one person’s decision to create a community gathering space centered on secondhand goods and small scale local makers, and Harvey has continued to run it as a hands on, community oriented project since that first Sunday in 2019.
On any given week, shoppers can expect more than forty rotating vendors, a mix that includes specialty sellers like Little Flea Antiques and KP Manning and Friends alongside independent artists offering micro local, handmade work. The result is a market where genuine vintage and antique finds sit next to newly made crafts and art, so browsers might turn up a mid century side table or a stack of old LPs at one table and a locally designed print or piece of jewelry at the next. Neighborhood residents interested in consigning their own items or setting up a vendor table can also take part, which keeps the vendor roster changing from one Sunday to the next rather than settling into a fixed lineup of the same sellers every week.
Beyond the shopping, the market has built in its own small entertainment tradition. Sunday sessions include the Little Tiny Concert Series at noon, a recurring showcase for local musicians that plays out right alongside the vendor tables, giving the market an atmosphere closer to a neighborhood block party than a typical retail pop up. That combination of live music, rotating vendors, and a prime Dupont Circle corner has helped the market become a fixture of the neighborhood’s weekend routine since it launched, drawing both longtime Dupont Circle residents and visitors exploring the area’s shops and restaurants.
The market runs every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 19th and Q Streets NW, rain or shine in most weather, making it an easy add on to a Sunday morning walk through Dupont Circle. Visitors can reach the market by phone at 202-701-3197 or check vendor lineups and updates through its website, dupontlittleflea.com. For anyone chasing a specific vintage find, a stack of records, or simply a Sunday spent browsing tables of secondhand goods and local art, the flea market’s changing roster of more than forty vendors offers something different nearly every week.
Dupont Little Flea Market is a weekly Sunday outdoor market at 19th and Q Streets NW in Dupont Circle offering vintage and antique housewares, furniture, art, jewelry, and vinyl records from more than forty rotating vendors, founded in 2019 by former philanthropy executive John Harvey.
