Cardwell Jetty Markets

The volunteer committee that runs Australia's only UFO festival also runs the town market. The Cardwell Jetty Markets set up on the foreshore at 132 Victoria Street, beside the jetty, and their year has a shape most markets do not: the season opens on the Easter weekend, then settles into the second Sunday of each month and finishes in September. The market starts at 8am.

A dry season market

Cardwell sits on the Cassowary Coast between Townsville and Innisfail, opposite Hinchinbrook Island, and the market runs only in the drier half of the year. My Community Directory records the schedule exactly: commencing each year on the Easter weekend, thereafter on the second Sunday of each month through to September. That is a season rather than a year-round market, and it is six months long. The stalls are what a small coastal town brings out, with homemade tasty treats, homemade gifts and plants named on the community listings, and the setting is the foreshore itself beside the jetty. Stall sites are booked through the committee directly, by email to [email protected] or on 0447 660 248, and the same number is the one the community directory lists for the market itself.

The organising committee is the detail worth knowing about this one.

Good to know before you go

Check the date before you drive. This is a seasonal market with a monthly cadence, so between October and Easter there is nothing to come for, and even in season it is one Sunday in four. The 8am start is firm across listings but the finish time is not, with some sources saying noon and others 2pm, so treat the morning as the reliable window and do not plan to arrive at one o'clock. That uncertainty is why the trading hours panel on this page shows no day grid. Cardwell is on the Bruce Highway on the Cassowary Coast, and the market is right on the water at the jetty, so parking and a view are both easy. Bring cash and a hat. This is Girramay and Bandjin country.