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Going Places

The oldest of them all

Every Sunday from 10 in the morning until five at night, and in almost any kind of weather, on the Upper Esplanade at St Kilda you will find more than 200 stalls of exciting and highly professional arts and crafts. You’ll also see many artisans at their work and they are happy to talk to you about it.
Everything that is for sale here is a local handmade original piece made by the stallholder.
Many of the artists you will meet have been here since the beginning of the market in 1972. Some are new young emerging craftspeople, and there are even a few sons and daughters of the original artists who are carrying on a family tradition.
Many artists are award winners such as Richard Mitchinson, recent winner of the Victorian Woodworkers Association award for an exquisite small piece at the recent Heartwood exhibition.
Why not breakfast in Acland Street, stroll along the Esplanade on Sundays to lunch in Fitzroy Street or make your way in the other direction perhaps for lunch to dinner, finding a new treasure and being delighted by the work available to you.
Tourists to Melbourne are amazed at the originality and expertise displayed by the artists of the St Kilda Esplanade Arts & Crafts Association. An often heard comment: "I’ve never seen anything like this before, never never before".
You can find paintings, jewellery, leatherwork, pottery, ceramics, pewterware, stuffed Australian toys, creative miniature sculptures, leadlight and many other skilled arts.
The St Kilda Esplanade Arts & Crafts Market is easily accessible by public transport, train, light rail and tram. Take trams 16 or 19 from the City.

Victoria’s great markets — part of a way of life

A group of craft markets known as Victoria’s Great Craft Markets include some of our best known and largest markets. Red Hill, Mornington, Balnarring, Flemington and Yarra Glen each has over 300 stalls with ample parking and a dedication to presenting excellent home made and home grown products.
Since the Red Hill Community Market was started in 1975, home produce shopping has become a way of life for many people. Craft markets have become great meeting places – social gatherings in a friendly atmosphere, where friends and families can share and indulge in the extensive display of tempting foods.
Craft markets are great places to browse, but at this time of the year they are also great places to shop for Christmas gifts. There’s something to suit all price ranges and tastes, and you know that you are buying something individual and hand-crafted.
People can select from hand made works that give an individual touch to their home decoration, fun clothing for their kids, well made wooden toys, casual clothing for themselves or an amazing variety of plants.
If you’ve never shopped at craft markets before, you’ll be amazed at the stress free feeling of open air shopping.

Historic site for Drysdale market

The Drysdale Community Market swings into action again in October. Where once troops and horses destined for the far off shores of Egypt made their final preparations, and later a dishevelled group of itinerant gipsy workers set up camp for the duration of the Bellarine Peninsula potato harvest, you can now wander beneath the elegant spreading boughs of a fabulous avenue of oaks and enjoy the Drysdale Market experience.
The market is nestled in a small truncated valley — an explanation for its shape still eludes geographers — flanked to the west by McLeods Water Holes, once the only reliable permanent water hole on the peninsula, a critical factor, no doubt, to the successful survival of the original inhabitants of the area, the Warthurong tribe. The last visual remnant of their habitation of the area was a canoe tree which burnt away completely in a runaway grass fire in the early 1970s.
The market has run consistently for over 25 years, breaking only during late autumn and winter. The market’s vitality relies heavily on the creative talents and hard-working efforts of nearly 100 stall-holders. Share in their creativity by purchasing a trinket or delicious treat which is guaranteed to be hand made, cooked or grown.
The Drysdale Market operates every third Sunday from 9am to 1pm in the Drysdale Recreation Reserve (Melways 23B G8).

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