Ararat Market
A second-Sunday country market at Alexandra Hall where the stall fees, minus the hall hire, go to a different local charity every month.
About this market
Every month the Ararat Market hands its takings to somebody else. Stall fees, minus the cost of hiring the hall, go to a different local charity or fundraiser each time it runs, which makes the market a rotating fundraising machine rather than a business with a community angle. It fills Alexandra Hall and its grounds on the second Sunday of the month, 9am to 1pm, with around 60 stallholders spread inside and out.
Sixty stalls, indoors and out
Stalls run inside the hall and across the grounds, and Only Melbourne describes it as a long established indoor and outdoor country market. The mix is general goods rather than produce: home-grown and handmade goods, nurseries, decorations for the home and garden, books and movies, handmade jewellery, cards, personalised signs, cakes, bakery items and handmade slices, baby wear, clothing, candles and soaps. Ararat Rural City Council lists the market on its own events page, and the hall sits in the middle of town, directly across from the Woolworths.
Market at a glance
The charity arrangement is stated plainly by the market itself, and it is not a token gesture.
Every dollar of stall fee this market collects, after the hall hire is paid, goes to a local charity or fundraiser, and the recipient changes month to month. The market is not raising money for itself or for one nominated cause. It is passing the whole surplus along to a different part of town each time it opens.
Good to know before you go
Second Sunday, 9am to 1pm, and four hours is the whole of it, so a late start does not work here. The hall is easy to find in the middle of Ararat and there is no entry cost listed, though bringing cash is sensible at a market this size. Ararat sits roughly two hours west of Melbourne and an hour from Ballarat on the way to the Grampians, so this pairs naturally with a weekend in Halls Gap or a run through the Pyrenees wine country. If you are coming for something specific, ring the coordinator first. The stall list changes with whoever books. This is Djab Wurrung country.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is the Ararat Market on?
- The second Sunday of each month, 9am to 1pm, at Alexandra Hall and Grounds in Ararat.
- Is it indoors or outdoors?
- Both. Stalls run inside the hall and outside on the grounds, so the market goes ahead year round rather than only in fine weather.
- What is sold there?
- Home-grown and handmade goods, nursery plants, home and garden decorations, books and movies, handmade jewellery, cards, personalised signs, cakes and bakery items, baby wear, clothing, candles and soaps.