Parklea Markets

Parklea Markets started life on the site of a former drive-in cinema, bought by Con Constantine in 1985. While waiting on council approval to run it as a market, he operated the land as a plant nursery instead, a stopgap that turned into a permanent fixture: the nursery section still trades seven days a week today. The market itself opened to the public in August 1989.

Built for volume

Everything about the site is scaled up. More than 100 stalls run under a 150-metre sail-style canopy covering the outdoor section, and the car park has room for around 17,000 vehicles, a genuinely unusual number for a suburban weekend market. Buses run from Blacktown Station on Saturdays and Sundays for anyone not driving.

What's on sale reads more like a small department store spread across market stalls than a themed craft fair: fashion and cosmetics next to tools and camping gear, toys and jewellery a few stalls from the fresh seafood and butcher counters. It's the kind of place where a single visit can cover a grocery shop, a birthday present, and a new garden hose.

Good to know before you go

Go early on a weekend if a specific stall or a bargain is the goal; the sheer size of the place means popular sections do thin out by early afternoon. The nursery is worth remembering as a weekday option if a weekend trip doesn't work.