Tilba Market

Tilba Market has been running since 2008 under a tagline that says it all: Make it, Bake it, Sew it, Grow it. It trades every Saturday morning from 8am to noon in the Big Hall on Bate Street, in the heart of Central Tilba on the New South Wales South Coast.

A village market on the Princes Highway route

Central Tilba is a small village, with a population of 342 at the 2021 census counting the surrounding area. It sits about 10 kilometres south south-west of Narooma and 60 kilometres north of Bega, beneath Gulaga / Mount Dromedary, an extinct volcano. Henry Jefferson Bate arrived in 1869 as the first resident selector, and the Princes Highway passed through the village until a bypass opened in August 1990. Gold was found on the mountain too, and by 1876 one creek alone had yielded gold worth more than 10,000 pounds.

The stall mix follows the tagline. Listings describe fresh fruit and vegetables, free-range eggs, local honey, jams and preserves and baked treats, along with handmade wares, and one listing mentions live music filling the hall. Because it runs indoors, a wet South Coast morning does not change the plan.

Market at a glance

2008Running since

SaturdayEvery week

8am to noonTrading hours

10 kmFrom Narooma

Good to know before you go

The market is held weekly, so there is no calendar to decode: turn up on a Saturday between 8am and noon. The NSW listing shows entry as free, and the venue is the Big Hall at 3A Bate Street. The Visit NSW listing says the venue does not cater for people with access needs, so anyone using a wheelchair or pram may want to ask the organisers first through the market's Facebook page.

Central Tilba is a stop in its own right, with the village's heritage buildings outside the door, which makes it an easy stop on a South Coast drive between Narooma and Bega.