Broken Hill Community Markets

Broken Hill is a long way from anywhere, and its market reflects that. From March to November, on the second Saturday of the month, around fifty stall sites fill the grounds of the Centre for Community on Beryl Street, with the overflow running into Sturt Park across the road. It is a genuine community market in a town that has to make its own entertainment.

Bric-a-brac and produce in the same lap

The mix is broader than a city market of the same size, because the isolation means nothing gets specialised out of existence. Fresh produce, gourmet meats, jams and pickles sit next to books, candles, antiques, collectables and minerals, which in a mining town are worth a proper look. Souvenirs, toys, clothing and artwork fill in the rest. If you have driven a long way to get here, this is a better read on the place than any gift shop.

Seating is provided and parking is easy, which sounds like a small thing until you have shopped at a market with neither. The site is flat and the paths are firm, so it handles wheelchairs and prams better than most outdoor markets do.

Good to know before you go

Start times vary between listings, so treat 9am as the safe arrival and expect the last stalls to be packing down by 12.30pm. Bring cash, bags and a hat: Broken Hill weather is unforgiving in either direction, and there is limited shade over the stalls in Sturt Park. If you are timing an outback trip around it, the second Saturday is also when the town is at its busiest, which makes it the best morning of the month to be here. One more thing worth ignoring: the market moved to Perilya Green for a while when the old bowling green matting at the Centre for Community was being replaced with couch grass. It has long since returned to Beryl Street, but a handful of listings never caught up.