Yeppoon Community Markets
Started in 1976 by a Rotarian farmer with about six stalls, and still built around the idea that stall fees should go back into the district.
About this market
The Yeppoon Community Market was established in 1976 as a Rotary project, set up by Jim Stephens, a Rotary member and farmer, with roughly six stalls to its name. The model he built it on has not really changed since: stallholders pay a site fee, and the profits from those fees are returned to the community rather than kept by an operator.
Six stalls, then four decades of giving it away
The market changed hands and changed names as it grew, trading for years as the Yeppoon Charity Market before settling on Yeppoon Community Market. Across more than four decades it has funded a long list of local organisations and individuals on the Capricorn Coast. The most substantial single contribution was $22,000, which covered half the cost of the first four-wheel-drive ambulance to serve the area.
Market at a glance
What fills the showgrounds now is a mix of produce picked the day before, baked goods, jams and honey, cut flowers and plants, arts and crafts, handmade goods and food vendors working the breakfast crowd. The 6am start is not decorative either. Locals genuinely turn up at first light, and the fruit and vegetable stalls do their best trade well before the halfway mark.
The market once donated $22,000 to pay for half of the first four-wheel-drive ambulance stationed in the Yeppoon area, one of the larger single gifts in its history.
Good to know before you go
This is a short, early market. Trading runs 6am to 10am on Saturday, so arriving at 9:30am means picking over what is left rather than choosing from a full spread. The site is the Yeppoon Showgrounds on Morris Street, with on-site parking, and it sits a short drive back from the Yeppoon foreshore if the plan is breakfast at the market followed by the beach.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is the Yeppoon Community Market on?
- Every Saturday morning, 6am to 10am, at the Yeppoon Showgrounds on Morris Street.
- How old is the market?
- It was established in 1976, beginning as a Rotary project with roughly six stalls before growing into the market that runs today.
- Where does the money go?
- Stall fees fund community causes. Past contributions include $22,000 toward half the cost of the district's first four-wheel-drive ambulance.