{"id":65626,"date":"2026-05-12T20:38:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=65626"},"modified":"2026-05-12T20:38:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:38:40","slug":"international-market-world-marks-four-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/05\/12\/international-market-world-marks-four-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"International Market World marks four decades"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is an impressive milestone for the International Market World<\/strong> in Auburndale. Since opening its doors in 1981<\/strong>, the market has officially crossed the 40-year mark<\/strong>, evolving from a small seven-aisle setup into the 30-acre Central Florida landmark it is today.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Founded by Vince To along with his father and brother, the market remains a family-run operation that has nearly tripled in size since its inception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weekend Highlights at the Market<\/h3>\n\n\n
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Even four decades later, the market sticks to its roots of providing free, family-oriented entertainment alongside its massive vendor selection:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Free Circus:<\/strong> Shows are held every Saturday and Sunday (typically at 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM) featuring acrobats, clowns, and trained animals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Alligator Show:<\/strong> A staple of the market, the live gator show happens every weekend at 2:00 PM, offering an educational look at Florida’s most famous reptiles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Jororo Native Village:<\/strong> A newer addition that provides an educational “dive into history” with primitive weaponry demonstrations and cultural exhibits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Massive Shopping:<\/strong> With over 300 vendors, you can find everything from farm-fresh produce and local honey to specialized shops for auto accessories, hardware, and jewelry repair.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Community Legacy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The market has become more than just a flea market; it\u2019s a community hub for Lakeland and Auburndale residents. Its proximity to the family farm\u2014where buffalo, hogs, and cattle are raised\u2014adds a unique agricultural flair that you won’t find at many other markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whether you’re there for the garage sales, the Aztec Fire Dancers, or just a bag of fresh citrus, the 40-year legacy of the “Market World” continues to be a weekend tradition for many in Polk County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It is an impressive milestone for the International Market World in Auburndale. Since opening its doors in 1981, the market has officially crossed the 40-year mark, evolving from a small… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"4","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDVcL2ltYWdlcy01LndlYnA_Zml0PTE2OCUyQzI1NSZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkludGVybmF0aW9uYWwgTWFya2V0IFdvcmxkIG1hcmtzIGZvdXIgZGVjYWRlcyIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.mGACuGkoKDAVJrVhsRY6pHiINXsaA-zrYP1mEMAKY9wMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA1XC9pbWFnZXMtNS53ZWJwIiwidHh0IjoiSW50ZXJuYXRpb25hbCBNYXJrZXQgV29ybGQgbWFya3MgZm91ciBkZWNhZGVzIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.Jyeuwh8Y5Kac533a1_6kg9Wl4w90eq0u6yAm3jXGvIgMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[14612],"class_list":["post-65626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-international-market-world-marks-four-decades"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65626"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65629,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65626\/revisions\/65629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}