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Regeneration projects have been the subject of numerous studies. However, few works have so far attempted to analyse what regeneration projects have become more than forty years after their conception, to take a retrospective look, to observe their evolution over a long period of time and their importance in the field of urban development. In this article, I attempt this exercise, using the example of the Baltimore festival marketplace. I argue that festival marketplaces are precursors of urban regeneration programmes. The study of this object over a long period of time is interesting for urban studies, particularly urban planning and urban geography. Indeed, it allows us to understand the genesis of these projects and how some of them have become figures of urban development. It also shows how their development gave rise to urban tools and orientations that are still in place today.