Roaring success: CBD market draws massive crowd on opening weekend
Geelong’s weekly market kicked off on Saturday, and the Addy was on the ground to let you know if it was any good.
Saturday’s Geelong City Market was a roaring success.
Facts, figures and council-sanctioned economic impact statements will come later, but what the first instalment of Mayor Stretch Kontelj’s pet project has achieved is bringing a vibe back to the CBD.
After a fortnight filled with misdeeds and chaos in the city centre that saw protective services officers stationed at the Moorabool St end of the strip, Saturday brought a much-needed reprieve.
Marquees filled the usually dull space, and the hum of conversation, sizzling grills and small-scale commerce offered a welcome change.
People could be overheard at 9am in disbelief over the swelling crowd along Little Malop St.
Music kicked off about 10am, with buskers stationed at the Yarra St end and the entry to the West End precinct.
Of particular interest to market-goers was the Two Tins Patisserie stall, with its queue extending at least 20 people deep for almost the whole day.
Punters seemed to stop and stare and occasionally open their mouths when walking past Mi Shell’s Seafood, which had fresh oysters on offer.
A personal favourite was Two Lands Coffee, which had a cart stationed towards the Moorabool St end, serving up some of the best coffee I’ve had from a portable coffee station.
Anther Distillery’s Derv McGowan said the market was “way busier” than expected,
“People were really happy,” she said.
“I had a couple of people tell me that this is what Geelong needs and the fact that there were so many people there was indicative of the fact that Geelong is crying out for this.”
The crowd kept swelling, to the point where by 11am a walk from one end to the other could take easily twice as long as usual, with bumper to bumper foot traffic slowing things down.
While the crowding was a minor issue, it’s a good issue to have.
Operator and chef Simon Toohey said he was “ecstatic” that Geelong residents had come out in droves to support local producers.
“We put so much work into making the market a success, so to see it come to fruition nearly brought us to tears,” he said.
He said the team would be looking for new stallholders and ideas to “keep it fresh” and attract new patrons each week.
Whatever hopes Mr Kontelj and his fellow councillors had for crowd size, the turn-out must surely have been exceeded expectations.
Anyway, the word on the street was the powers that be were looking to expand the market, watch this space.
The knock-on effect of the market could be felt through town, too.
The CBD can be dead on the weekend, but the good market vibes seemed to be transmitted to the West End precinct, Centrepoint Arcade and beyond.
Mr Kontelj ran for both council and mayor promising to liven up the CBD, if the weekly market can keep the momentum from its first week, that would be a big tick on his record.
william.keech@news.com.au.
Originally published as Roaring success: CBD market draws massive crowd on opening weekend
