Canungra Village Markets
A second-Sunday community market at Moriarty Park in the old timber town that serves as the gateway to the Gold Coast hinterland.
About this market
Canungra owes its existence to timber. David Lahey ran one of Queensland's largest sawmills here in the late 1800s, a school opened in 1889 for the settler and sawmill families, and a railway served the mills from 1915 until 1955. The village market carries on in the same centre of town, at Moriarty Park on Monarch Drive on the second Sunday of every month.
A growers and makers market rather than a bargain hunt
The organisers put it plainly: this is a community based market for farmers, growers, crafters, cookers and everything else in between. That framing matters in a district where the alternative on any given weekend is a large tourist market up on Tamborine Mountain. Canungra's version is smaller and aimed at the people who live in the valley, with the park's own car park and the village shops and cafes a short walk from the stalls. The town sits at the junction of the roads to Tamborine Mountain and Lamington National Park, so a market Sunday folds neatly into a hinterland drive.
Market at a glance
The town's name is older than any of the industry that built it, and it describes the ground the market stands on.
Canungra takes its name from the Yugambeh word gungunga, meaning a long flat or clearing, which is exactly the sort of ground a village market wants. The timber that made the town was mostly gone by the 1940s and the mills closed, but Lahey's Tramway Tunnel is still cut through the ridge nearby as a remnant of the logging years, and the valley turned to beef cattle and dairying instead.
Good to know before you go
Second Sunday, and this is the one to check before driving: published listings disagree about whether trading starts at 7am or 8am and whether it finishes at noon or 1pm, so the market's Facebook page is the source to trust on the day. Arriving in the first hour covers you either way. Moriarty Park is on Monarch Drive with a car park on site. Canungra is around an hour from Brisbane and about the same from the Gold Coast, and both Tamborine Mountain and Lamington National Park are short drives from the village. This is Yugambeh country.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When are the Canungra Village Markets on?
- The second Sunday of the month at Moriarty Park on Monarch Drive. Listings disagree on the exact opening and closing times, so check the market's Facebook page for the current hours before you set out.
- What sort of market is it?
- The organisers describe it as a community based market for farmers, growers, crafters, cookers and everything else in between, rather than a commercial trash and treasure.
- Where do I park?
- There is a car park at Moriarty Park on Monarch Drive, with street parking through the village a short walk away.