Manly Creative Market

Manly Creative Market has traded at the same Little Bayside Park location since late 1991, making it Brisbane's oldest continuously operating creative-based market from a single site. Over three decades of Sundays have built it into a genuine institution for local craftspeople and artists, all set within a corner of Manly Harbour Village that itself dates back further still.

More than 30 years under the same fig trees

The market's most distinctive feature is its setting: a forest of huge Moreton Bay fig trees shades the entire site between The Esplanade and Manly Harbour, giving stallholders and shoppers alike genuine relief from the Queensland sun that most open-air markets can't offer. The surrounding shopping mall traces back to the 1960s, built by Stan Davis with a butcher, greengrocer, newsagent and barber, later home to one of Brisbane's Cash and Carry Stores before the market itself became a Sunday fixture.

Reviewers consistently praise the location above almost everything else, deep shade, harbour views and a genuinely good range of craft and food stalls, though several long-time stallholders have noted that supporting local makers directly, rather than big retail chains, is what keeps a market like this viable long-term.

Good to know before you go

The heavy shade from the Moreton Bay figs makes it a genuinely comfortable market to visit even on a hot Brisbane Sunday, unlike many open-air alternatives. Bringing cash for smaller craft stalls is worth considering, and dog owners will find plenty of pet-friendly stalls given the market's noted emphasis on pet products.