Ettalong Fresh Food Market
A weekly Saturday produce market in a scout hall beside Ettalong Oval, where a rotating guest producer joins the regular growers each week.
About this market
Most Central Coast markets are monthly. This one runs every Saturday morning, which changes what it is for: it is a weekly grocery run rather than a day out. The Ettalong Fresh Food Market opens at 7.30am in the Broken Bay Scout Hall on Picnic Parade and closes at noon, and it sits next to Ettalong Oval and the fenced dog park with parking all around.
A grocery shop with a rotating guest list
The permanent core is produce. Fruit and vegetables, honey, artisan baked goods, organic pantry items, local dairy, fresh flowers, mushrooms from Margins Mushrooms and free-range eggs from Mountain Pride Farms are the things you can plan a week around. On top of that, the market invites a different set of specialised local producers each week, which is where the locally roasted coffee, the jams and chutneys, the regenerative meat, the international cuisine, the dog treats and the cakes come from. Local musicians play. The practical effect is that the stall list is never quite the same twice, so regulars tend to come with a list for the staples and leave room for whatever turned up.
Market at a glance
The venue is the detail people miss when they look this market up.
This is not the market most people mean when they say "the Ettalong markets". That name used to belong to a weekend market at the Ettalong Beach tourist resort, which has since become a permanent retail galleria of fixed shops. The fresh food market is a separate operation in the Broken Bay Scout Hall on Picnic Parade, and it still sells from stalls.
Good to know before you go
Come early. A 7.30am start on a produce market is a signal, and the growers who bring limited quantities of mushrooms, eggs and flowers are the ones that go first. The hall is indoors, so rain is not a reason to skip it. Ettalong Beach is about an hour north of Sydney by road, or a 30 minute ferry ride from Palm Beach, which makes the market a genuinely pleasant thing to build a morning around rather than just a shop. Park by the oval. Bring your own bags and expect to want a second trip to the car. This is Darkinjung and Guringai country.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is the Ettalong Fresh Food Market open?
- Every Saturday morning, 7.30am to 12 noon, at the Broken Bay Scout Hall, 1 Picnic Parade, Ettalong Beach.
- What is sold there?
- Fruit and vegetables, honey, artisan baked goods, organic pantry items, local dairy, fresh flowers, mushrooms from Margins Mushrooms and free-range eggs from Mountain Pride Farms, plus a different guest producer each week.
- Is there parking?
- Yes. The hall sits next to Ettalong Oval and the fenced dog park, and there is plenty of parking around it.