Bushy Park Community Market
Forty stalls every Saturday in a 110-year-old Derwent Valley hall that doubles as a hops museum.
About this market
The Bushy Park Community Market runs every Saturday from 11am to 4pm in a hall that has been standing for around 110 years and now holds three things at once: a country market of roughly forty stalls, a hops museum, and the district's tourist information point. It is the central hub of a very small Derwent Valley community, about fifty minutes upriver from Hobart.
Forty stalls, five hours, every week
The stall mix is the broad country kind: hot food and artisan produce at one end, craft, baked goods, fresh fruit and vegetables in the middle, then bric-a-brac, souvenirs, furniture, clothing, homewares, tools, garden goods and plants filling out the hall. Forty stalls is substantial for a locality this size and weekly is more substantial still, since almost every comparable Tasmanian country market runs monthly or seasonally. The 11am to 4pm window is unusual too, and it suits the traffic: this is a stop on the way up the valley towards Mount Field and the highlands rather than a morning produce run for locals.
Market at a glance
Trading indoors matters here as much as anywhere in this directory. A Derwent Valley Saturday in July is not an outdoor proposition, and a hall market keeps the same shape in August as it does in January. That consistency is most of the reason a locality this small can support a weekly market at all: stallholders can plan on it, and so can the people who drive up for it.
One 110-year-old hall carries three separate things at once. The building holds the Saturday market of around forty stalls, a hops museum recording the district's growing history, and the local tourist information point, all on the same floor. That is an unusual amount of work for one country hall, and it is why the building describes itself as the central hub of the Bushy Park community rather than simply as a market venue.
Before you drive up
Every Saturday, 11am to 4pm. Bring cash and bags. Gordon River Road runs through Bushy Park and there is parking around the hall. The valley is cooler than Hobart and the drive up is about fifty minutes, which makes the market a natural stop on the way to or from Mount Field National Park rather than a destination on its own. A late-morning start means there is no need for an early departure. This is Big River country.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is the Bushy Park Community Market on?
- Every Saturday from 11am to 4pm, in the hall on Gordon River Road at Bushy Park in the Derwent Valley.
- What is sold?
- Around 40 stalls covering hot food, artisan produce and craft, plus baked goods, fresh fruit and vegetables, bric-a-brac, souvenirs, furniture, clothing, homewares, tools, garden goods and plants.
- Is there anything else at the hall?
- Yes. The building holds a hops museum and doubles as the local tourist information point, so the market shares its floor with the district's own history.