Carseldine Farmers & Artisan Markets are weekly markets at the Old QUT Carseldine Campus.Credit: Goodwill Projects
Rain clouds can have silver linings. Consider the unseasonal deluges of early 2024: it’s them we have to thank for the Scenic Rim’s new monthly farmers’ market.
Dallas Davidson explains.
“When your crops are really, really wet, you need to pick what you’ve got and get it out the door so it doesn’t basically ferment,” she says. “But you don’t always have an outlet where you can get to customers really quickly.
“So we thought, let’s just bring all our local farmers and give them a spot to sell and talk to a new customer base.”
Dallas Davidson has started the Towri Growers Market on the sheep farm she runs with her mother Carolyn.Credit: Towri Growers Market
And so Davidson launched the first Towri Growers Market in February 2024. But did people come?
“It was a showstopper! Our farmers had to go back to their farms and get more produce. The support was overwhelming, we had people from Warwick, Toowoomba, Brisbane, Gold Coast. And of course, Beaudesert, our local town.”
Davidson and her mother Carolyn run Towri Sheep Cheeses, a farm and cheesery with roughly 380 head of sheep and a product line of sheep fetta, sheep yoghurt (‘Ewegurt’) and the only cheese in Australia that combines sheep, camel, goat and cow milk.
Their farm’s French-style gardens are where producers such as Valley Pride, Tommerups Dairy Farm, Harry’s Paddock and Barney Creek Vineyards set up one Saturday a month.
Unlike most markets, customers to Towri pay a small entry fee and are encouraged to book online. The bookings tell the farmers how much produce they need to pick on the morning of the market. “You can’t get more fresh than that,” Davidson says.
As with most markets you can get coffee and a curated range of gifts, but the on-site snack offering isn’t your typical poffertjes and kranskies. Davidson has enlisted local chefs Embers to cook local produce on big barbecues – expect hogget burgers served on handmade croissants with sweet-and-sour sticky crispy potatoes.
The Valley Pride crew at Towri Growers Market.Credit: Towri Growers Market
You can also build your own cheese platter of sheep cheeses (which are very low in lactose).
The Towri Growers Market is worth the drive to Allenview, but if you’d rather stay close to home, Brisbane has a wide range of Saturday markets to try, whether you’re seeking fresh veg, plants, gifts, or simply a coffee and a street-food feed.
West End Markets
Good for: Bohemian lifestyle
West End Markets are arguably the biggest and most diverse weekly market in Brisbane.Credit: West End Markets
The counterculture vibe is strong here: on arrival, expect to be offered the latest issue of socialist paper Redflag. The vast West End Markets spiral around the oval of the Souths Leagues Club and take you on a journey through craft and gifts, fresh veggies, knickknacks and street food. Buy a gift from the Palestinian Fair Trade Australia shop; get some peculiar pear tomatoes from Casa Antonio; or a unique cup from Lily Jean Small Batch Ceramics. You can also get vinyl, electronics, succulents, bonsai and a hand-crocheted Baby Yoda. Japanese tofu, dumplings and bagels are eagerly devoured by the colourful clientele who congregate with their coffees under the trees by the river to listen to live music.
Davies Park, Cnr Montague Road & Jane Street, West End.
Sat 6am-2pm, free.
Saturday Fresh Market Rocklea
Good for: Plants, veg and everything that grows
Brisbane Markets Rocklea are open to the public every Saturday for the Saturday Fresh Market. Credit: Brisbane Markets
The Rocklea markets are Brisbane’s bona fide professional markets for retailers of fresh produce and flowers, open weekdays from 5am. But every Saturday the general public is welcomed to the epic Saturday Fresh Markets, where they can find all of the above plus meats, baked goods, toys and gifts, and a large food court area with plenty of tasty brekky options and seating. Stock up on delicious pulled pork from Darling Fresh Smoke Haus, Mediterranean olives from Yoanni’s Olives, and nibble a bacon and egg toastie from Cordelia Sourdough.
Brisbane Markets, 385 Sherwood Road, Rocklea.
Sat 6am-12pm, $2.
Carseldine Farmers and Artisan Markets
Good for: Kids and gifts
Carseldine Markets are a small but well curated weekly market.Credit: Goodwill Projects
The Queensland Government Service Centre at Carseldine (formerly the QUT campus) is a collection of brutalist buildings among the gum trees that hosts a market every Saturday. Two bouncy castles operate here ($5 per kid) and there’s a face painting station ($10 per face), which gives littlies something to do while you browse for elaborate wooden toys by Imagination Toy Shop, Papua New Guinean clothing and jewellery by PNGHC, or vinyl albums from Revived Audio. Street foods include Korean cheesy corndogs, Tibetan Momo Kitchen and Langos Express Hungarian food. A musician plays in the central courtyard and there are shaded tables and rugs on the grass.
133 Dorville Road, Carseldine.
Sat 6am-12pm, free.
Kelvin Grove Village Markets
Good for: Produce and presents
The Present Condition stall at Kelvin Grove Village Markets specialises in vintage tea towels.Credit: Nick Dent
The clean and modern streets surrounding QUT receive a welcome injection of excitement every Saturday as the markets take over Blamey Street and a stretch of Musk Avenue. You can enjoy a coffee and street snacks such as dumplings, Thai, pho or something known as ‘chimney cake’. Add to your vintage tea towel collection with the help of The Present Condition, buy a muslin bag decorated with pounded flowers from Mils Market, get cutesy fidgets from Beanie Bear or your portrait drawn for $40. Several stalls can sort you out for fresh produce, including Lunar Farm Organics.
Blamey Street, QUT Urban Village, Kelvin Grove.
Sat 6am-1pm, free.
Powerhouse Markets
Good for: Street food and park life
The Pleasuredome is open to the public during Powerhouse Farmers Markets on Saturdays.
Going strong since the Brisbane Powerhouse opened more than 20 years ago, these Jan Powers markets stretch from the roundabout on Lamington Street across the forecourt to New Farm Park. Fruit and veg is available along with specialty stalls like Goondiwindi Grass Fed Lamb, Backa Fermented Meats and the Olive Brothers. We picked up some delicious brigadeiros from Brazilian sweet stall Yummy & Crunchy. There are a few gift stalls but the main game here is coffee and street eats. Grab a foot-long kransky, a banh mi or dim sum, or Aussie classic smashed avo on toast from the Avo Place, and eat your treat brekky under jacarandas in the park, in the Pleasuredome, or by the river.
Lamington Street, New Farm.
Sat 6am-12pm, free.
Manly Farmers Markets
Good for: Produce and hot food by the water
Jan Powers Farmers Markets in Manly bring fresh produce, craft and street food to the Manly waterfront.Credit: Jared Vethaak
Manly has designer markets every Sunday, but every second Saturday it also has Jan Power Farmers Markets. With the masts of moored sailboats as the background, browse a good mix of produce and snacks, with a few giftwares too. Try a tasty sample of Deano’s Smoked Trout, and get some stinky orange Langres AOP from Le Fromage Yard, and Caboolture and Stanthorpe-grown strawberries from Fresh Berries Direct. Cake o’clock? Bayside Brownie Company will sell you fresh brownies, and Italia Bakery has cannoli and pretzel-shaped donuts. The live soundtrack might be by a pair of duelling saxophonists, and you can walk off your treat along the waterfront.
Manly Harbour Royal Esplanade, Manly. Between Cambridge & Cardigan Parades.
1st & 3rd Saturday of the month, 6am-12pm, free.
Handmade Markets Whale Mall take place in the Whale Mall next to Queensland Museum.Credit: Rachel Kimberley
Handmade Markets Whale Mall
Good for: Curated artisan gifts
Makers set up their stalls underneath the humpback whales of the Queensland Museum’s Whale Mall on selected Saturdays. Shop for Scandinavian-inspired children’s clothing by Little Anneli; laser-cut plant stakes and magnets by Sunshine Tonic; bags, purses and belts by Shelleyberelli; or imitation ramen bowl earrings by the Food imposter. Once you’ve finished shopping you can explore the collections of the museum, the adjacent Queensland Art Gallery, the State Library, or the Gallery of Modern Art.
Queensland Museum, Cnr Grey & Melbourne Streets, South Brisbane.
First Saturday of month, May-Dec 10am-3pm, free.
Towri Growers Market
Good for: Hogget burgers and meeting the farmers
Embers Wood Fire Dining chefs cooking hogget at Towri Growers Market.Credit: Towri Growers Market
The producer community of the Scenic Rim has weathered fire, floods, drought, Covid and even a tornado. Support their endeavours with a visit to Allenview (70 minutes from the Brisbane CBD) to buy fresh produce direct from the local farmers, including dairy, meat, fruit, veg, baked goods and preserves. There are sheep-milking demonstrations and plenty of sheep to pat, wine tastings, live music and lawn games. The chef team from Embers Wood Fire Dining cook local produce from the very farmers present on the day.
206 Saville Road, Allenview.
First Saturday of the month, 9am-2pm, $5.
Ripley Markets
Good for: A street food dinner and gifts
Ripley Markets are held in South Ripley on the second Saturday of the month.Credit: Ripley Markets
Set up in a leafy parkland near the Splash ‘n’ Play Adventure Park, these afternoon and evening markets offer about 90 stalls spanning food trucks, drinks, sweet treats, handmade crafts, homewares, jewellery and clothing. Members of the local community bring picnic blankets and make a night of it, dining on street food like Korean barbie or dumplings and enjoying live music performances. Kids flock to the free face painting and to treat stalls like the Popcorn Man, American Sweets and Whisk N Flip Pancakes & Waffles. The markets are also famously dog friendly.
6 Amity Way, South Ripley.
2nd Saturday of the month, 3-8pm, free.
You might also like:
Eat Street Northshore: Hamilton’s lively street food market has chalked up more than a decade of tasty eats and drinks on Friday to Sunday evenings.
Springfield Markets: These craft, homewares and street food markets are set up in the Robelle Domain Parklands on the first Sunday of each month and the Orion Shopping Centre on the third Sunday of the month.
The Collective Markets South Bank: These craft markets run every Friday to Sunday in Little Stanley Street (10am-9pm on Saturdays).
Brisbane Flower Market: Also in Rocklea, the Flower Market is open Monday to Saturday (on Saturday, 6am-1pm) for both retail and wholesale purchases.
Palm Beach Farmers Market: These weekly markets on the Goldie are open 6am-11.30pm at the Palm Beach Currumbin State High School for organic and local fresh produce.
Did we forget your favourite market? Let us know in the comments.
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