If you are moving to Jacksonville before Thanksgiving, there is a new tradition that is creating a spark within the city and getting residents pumped up about their community.

One of the biggest days of the year that is becoming a tradition, two days after Thanksgiving, is Small Business Saturday.

Jacksonville’s Small Business Saturday is a day where residents can shop the local stores and vendors and help support the community’s small businesses.

One of the biggest places for people to shop locally is the Riverside Arts Market, where numerous vendors set up shop on Saturday morning and showcase their products, crafts, services, and food.

Those who frequent Small Business Saturday say that they love knowing that they are helping the community, and that they are friends with some of the vendors and like knowing that they are also helping a friend.

Small Business Saturday allows the city’s small businesses the chance to compete with major retailers from Black Friday. However, they offer more personal products for Jacksonville locals; local, homegrown, homemade products, and more.

“Your small business owner lives here. He pays his taxes here. His children go to school here. All of those important things that help a city become an actual community come together,” said Roger Russell, a small business owner.