Adelaide Showground Farmers' Market

Adelaide Showground Farmers' Market opened on 1 October 2006 to a crowd of 10,000 shoppers, but the real proof of demand had come a year earlier. A one-off farmers market held during the 2005 Go Organic Festival drew 20,000 people, a turnout big enough to convince the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society to back a permanent, standing market at the Adelaide Showground.

A genuine farmers market, enforced by rule

What sets it apart from a lot of markets calling themselves "farmers markets" is a strict Producer Guarantee: every stallholder must have grown, made or caught what they're selling themselves, with no interstate or imported produce allowed in as a substitute. It's a rule that's made the market South Australia's largest and most iconic, drawing around 6,000 locals and visitors every single Sunday.

Reviewers consistently point to the range packed into one morning, fresh veggies, meat, poultry and seafood alongside pastries, cheese and baked goods, plus live music from buskers, and a strict "producers only" atmosphere that regulars say is worth the crowds it draws.

Good to know before you go

Dogs aren't allowed on site, so it's worth planning around that if a pet usually comes along on market trips. It wraps up at 12.30pm, and the Producer Guarantee rule means asking a stallholder about their farm or workshop is likely to get a genuine, detailed answer rather than a shrug.