Sorell Community Market
Three stalls in 1991, about sixty now: a Sunday market beside the memorial hall twenty minutes east of Hobart.
About this market
The Sorell Community Market opened in 1991 with a second hand stall, a gift stall and a plant stall. It now runs to roughly sixty, spread beside the Sorell Memorial Hall on Cole Street, and it has become the standing Sunday fixture for the district east of Hobart.
Sixty stalls, and a winter timetable
The mix is broad in a way that a strict farmers market never is: fruit and vegetables sit alongside antiques and collectables, second hand goods, furniture, plants and tools, with food and drink stalls through the middle and activities for children. That breadth is the reason it works as a weekly market in a town this size, because it gives people a reason to come back when they were not planning to buy anything in particular. The timetable does change with the season and it is the one thing to get right: weekly through the warmer months, then every second Sunday across winter, between Mother's Day and Father's Day. On long weekends the market moves to the Monday.
Market at a glance
The Memorial Hall is the anchor. It holds a kitchen, a stage, a supper and meeting room and an oval, and it is shared between the market, the Pittwater art club and the Sorell historical society, so the building is in use well beyond Sunday morning.
This market grew from almost nothing. When it opened in 1991 it consisted of exactly three stalls: one selling second hand goods, one selling gifts and one selling plants. Thirty five years later it runs to about sixty, covering everything from produce to furniture and tools, which makes it one of the larger regular markets in southern Tasmania outside Hobart itself.
Practical notes
Sunday mornings until about 1.30pm. Listings split between an 8am and a 9am start and there is no operator site to settle it, so treat 9am as the reliable figure. Confirm the week if you are travelling between Mother's Day and Father's Day, since the winter timetable halves the frequency, and remember the Monday switch on long weekends. Cole Street is central and parking is on the surrounding streets. Bring cash for the second hand and antique stalls in particular, where card facilities are least likely, and bring bags. Sorell is twenty minutes from Hobart on the way to the Tasman Peninsula and Port Arthur, which makes it a natural first stop on a longer day out. This is Paredarerme country.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is the Sorell Community Market on?
- Sunday mornings through the warmer months, dropping back to every second Sunday in winter, between Mother's Day and Father's Day. On long weekends it is held on the Monday instead of the Sunday. Listings disagree on the start, giving either 8am or 9am, and the market has no website of its own to settle it, so arriving from 9am is the safe assumption. It runs until about 1.30pm.
- What sort of stalls are there?
- Around 60, covering fruit and vegetables, antiques and collectables, second hand goods, furniture, plants and tools, plus food and drink stalls and children's activities.
- How far is Sorell from Hobart?
- About a 20 minute drive north east, which makes the market an easy Sunday morning trip from the city.