Surry Hills Market
Started in 1981 so locals could sell what they already owned, and still refusing food and coffee stalls four decades later.
About this market
Surry Hills Market was set up in 1981 by the Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre with a plainly practical purpose: to give locals a place to sell recycled, second-hand and handmade things, and to put some income within reach of people in the area living on low wages. Forty-plus years on it still runs on the first Saturday of the month at Shannon Reserve, and the money it makes still goes back into the neighbourhood centre's work with disadvantaged residents.
A market with a very short list of what it will accept
Most Sydney markets have drifted towards food. This one has not. Surry Hills Market takes handmade, second-hand and recycled goods, and it does not accept food or coffee vendors at all. That single rule shapes the whole day: roughly 60 stalls of vintage clothing, records, books, furniture, jewellery and other people's cleared-out cupboards, with the cafes of Crown Street doing the catering by default. It is also why the market now trades under the name Surry Hills Vintage Market, which describes what is actually on the tables.
Market at a glance
Eight hours is a long trading day by market standards, and it changes how people use the place. Shannon Reserve sits on Crown Street between Foveaux and Collins, so the market is not a destination you drive to. It is a park in the middle of a busy shopping strip that fills up with stalls once a month, and people wander in and out of it across the day rather than arriving at opening time and leaving.
The market pays for social work. It is run by the Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre, and its takings support the centre's programs for disadvantaged people in the area, which is the same reason it was started in 1981.
Good to know before you go
Come hungry for objects, not lunch: there are no food or coffee stalls, so eating happens in the surrounding cafes. Bring a bag you do not mind filling, and cash is worth having even though many stallholders take cards. If you want to sell rather than shop, applications go in online and open the Thursday before market day, with no drop-ins accepted and no concessional rates, so plan a month ahead rather than turning up with a car full of stock. Public transport beats driving here, since Crown Street parking on a Saturday is its own small ordeal.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is Surry Hills Market held?
- The first Saturday of every month, 8am to 4pm, at Shannon Reserve on Crown Street between Foveaux and Collins Streets.
- Is it the same thing as the Surry Hills Vintage Market?
- Yes. The market is now billed as the Surry Hills Vintage Market. Same operator, same reserve, same first Saturday slot, and the same focus on recycled, second-hand and handmade goods.
- Can I turn up on the day and set up a stall?
- No. Stallholders apply online and applications open the Thursday before each market. There are no drop-in stalls, and stalls on the grass need protective flooring underneath.