Mindil Markets will be back despite hard COVID trading season

THE HEAD honcho of Darwin’s iconic Mindil Beach Sunset Markets says the event will be back in 2021 as the tough COVID-19 trading season ends

Stallholder Mick Denigan as Mindil Beach Markets winding down for the year. Picture GLENN CAMPBELL

• Sun rises on Mindil Beach markets

DARWIN’S iconic Mindil Beach Sunset Markets “will be back in 2021”, the event’s head honcho has declared as a tough trading season comes to a close this month.

This Sunday’s market will be the last for 2020 and general manager Peter Ayre said while the association had been struggling financially since the coronavirus pandemic hit at the start of the Dry, he was confident the event would return.

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Mr Ayre said while the season had still been positive for its reduced number of stallholders, the association had relied on help from Darwin council and its landlord to get through the difficult period.

“Revenue wise for the association we’re sort of hurting quite a bit but the market itself has been really very good and we’re very grateful for the support of locals, we’ve done very well and are very appreciative,” he said.

Stallholder Mick Denigan as Mindil Beach Markets winding down for the year. Picture GLENN CAMPBELL

“We’ve taken all these sorts of measure to trim things up and ensure we exist into the future, we have government looking at helping us out perhaps with a little bit of operation assistance, monetary assistance, so I’m confident we’ll survive one way or another and we will be back in 2021.”

The markets have been forced to cut back from operating twice a week in 2020 but Mr Ayre said he wasn’t ruling out having stallholders back on Thursdays going forward.

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“We’re hopeful that that’ll be the case but there’s still a bit of uncertainty obviously around the whole drama that’s unfolded,” he said.

“We probably won’t know until closer to the time really, it’s just one of those things I’m afraid.”

The last Mindil market of the year is on this Sunday from 4pm.