Head to Market

Weekend markets are major attractions in many of the areas we love to visit, while major festivals celebrate a wide range of interests from jazz and opera to arts and crafts, regional food and winemaking.

Markets are fun to visit because they showcase the local area, the produce grown, as well as the skills of local craftspeople. They are a great way to get to know a region and you may well be surprised at the numbers of specialist growers and the high standard of local craft in a given area.

A great example of weekly markets is Salamanca in Hobart, Tasmania. Not only are these markets a lively place to be each Saturday, but they’re set against the wonderful backdrop of historic Georgian stone warehouses containing theatres, galleries, cafes, restaurants and craft shops. Food, flowers, wooden items, jewellery, handknits, toys and other crafts are all for sale at this lively display.

Luxury hotel accommodation Hobart

Port Douglas Markets are also on the waterfront, set in a grassy park overlooking the Coral Sea in Queensland. These markets are showcases for vendors from around the region selling glassware, jewellery, books, woodcraft, coffee and a harvest of wonderful tropical fruits and vegetables.

Luxury hotel accommodation Cairns & Port Douglas

In amongst the fig trees, Queensland’s Eumundi Markets are held every Saturday and Wednesday, offering everything from homemade lemonade and freshly baked bread to artworks and sculptures by local artists.

The markets in and around Byron Bay have something for everyone – plenty of local arts and crafts, seasonal plants and produce, and a wide variety of food. Venues include Byron Bay itself, Brunswick Heads, Bangalow, Mullumbimby and Uki.

Luxury hotel accommodation Byron Bay

Organic produce is a feature at the fortnightly Coffs Coast Growers Markets, while Maitland Fair in the Hunter region is a big open-air market with a large assortment of stalls selling bric-a-brac, antiques, home-grown and homemade goods, crafts, sewing and paintings.

Luxury hotel accommodation Coffs Harbour

The NSW Southern Highlands has so many markets in its region that you can find them in a different setting each weekend. Bowral Growers and flea markets are held every month, as are the Berrima craft markets. Moss Vale, Sutton Forest, Bundanoon and Mittagong are some of the other venues. Berry is a significant market venue on the South Coast, while inland the Blue Mountains, Mudgee and surrounding areas have their own tempting local produce and market opportunities.

Canberra is home to the Regional Farmers Markets and Saturday markets in heritage-listed Gorman House near the city centre, with organic produce, fresh food, art, craft and collectables.

Victoria’s Yarra Valley, Dandenongs and The Ranges are famous for their fine food and produce markets. The Yarra Valley Regional Farmers Markets and the Cardinia Ranges Farmers Markets are both places to sample local produce and meet the growers.

The Dandenong Markets sell fresh produce and general merchandise, while the Yarra Valley Regional Farmers Markets are famous for their produce and indoor setting. The Yarra Glen Craft Market is a showcase for local craftspeople and a place to source well-made gifts. Healesville and Marysville are other venues, while Red Hill is a long-established local-produce market, one of the many attractions of the Mornington Peninsula.

Sourcing local specialities to take home, you find many delicious items such as Sunsalt’s Murray River Gourmet Salt produced from the underground saline waters of the Murray Darling Basin. The soft-textured salt flakes are a delightful pinkish colour and taste great. Heading towards the tropics, you’ll find locally grown coffee, such as De Paoli, for sale around Coffs Harbour.

Festivals are another way to discover the tastes of a region. The Coffs Coast Advocate Food & Wine Festival, for example, is held from October 28-31 and offers cooking demonstrations, progressive dinners and more.

The Hunter Valley has many celebrations, including the annual Hunter Valley Harvest Festival from March to May, which features a packed program of events. Individual wineries also love to celebrate, with Hungerford Hill’s November 6 Vinefire celebrations based on the old Bordeaux tradition of using vine clippings to create blazing fires to barbeque beef.

Luxury hotel accommodation Hunter Valley

The end of December is the time for the annual Taste of Tasmania, a popular food and beverage event on the Hobart waterfront, coinciding with the finish of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

On the NSW South Coast, the Shoalhaven Coast Wine Festival celebrates its local produce in June each year.

Wine regions love to combine music and wine, with attractions such as Jazz in the Vines and Opera in the Vines, both Hunter Valley fixtures held each year in October. Victoria’s late-October Wangarrata Festival of Jazz has grown to include over 350 performers, with events held both in Wangaratta and in the surrounding wine regions.

In New Zealand, Hawke’s Bay, Waiheke Island, Martinborough and Marlborough are major wine regions boasting their own programs of wine, food and music festivities.