Beaumaris Farmers Market
A volunteer-run market in a primary school ground where the proceeds reach from Bayside street level to the global campaign to eradicate polio.
About this market
There is a line on the Beaumaris Farmers Market website that captures the scale it operates on better than any figure could. Most of the projects it funds are within Bayside, but it also supports Rotary's global initiatives, of which the largest is the campaign to eradicate polio. A monthly market in a primary school ground on Wood Street is, in a small way, plumbed into one of the longest-running public health efforts in the world.
Volunteers, a school ground, and one Sunday a month
The market is organised by the Sandringham Rotary Club and run by volunteers, and it trades on the third Sunday of the month from 9am to 1pm in the grounds of Beaumaris North Primary School. January is the exception: there is no market that month, so the year runs eleven Sundays rather than twelve. Four hours is a tight window, which keeps the market busy through the middle of the morning rather than trailing off across a long afternoon.
Market at a glance
A volunteer market behaves differently from a commercially operated one. Nobody is drawing a management fee, which means the margin between what stallholders pay and what the market spends is the community's rather than an operator's, and it also means the people directing you to a parking space on a Sunday morning are doing it because they chose to. The Sunday timing is worth noting in its own right: Bayside's other Rotary market at Sandringham runs on a Saturday, so the two sit on different days and different weekends rather than competing for the same morning.
Rotary launched PolioPlus in 1985 and helped found the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988. Cases have since fallen by more than 99.9 per cent, and polio remains endemic in only two countries. A share of what changes hands in a Beaumaris school ground on the third Sunday of the month feeds into that.
Good to know before you go
Do not plan a January visit, because there is not one. Beyond that, the third Sunday holds all year, and 9am to 1pm rewards arriving in the first half. Bring your own bags and a cool bag for anything that needs to stay cold on the way home. The school ground is flat and open, which makes it easy going with prams and mobility aids, and dogs are genuinely welcome rather than merely permitted. If you are making a morning of it, the market sits within easy reach of the Beaumaris shops and the bay, so it works better as one stop in a Sunday than as the whole of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is the Beaumaris Farmers Market on?
- The third Sunday of every month except January, 9am to 1pm, in the grounds of Beaumaris North Primary School on Wood Street.
- Who runs it and where does the money go?
- It is run by volunteers and organised by the Sandringham Rotary Club. Most projects funded are within Bayside, but the market also contributes to Rotary's global initiatives including polio eradication.
- Are dogs allowed?
- Yes. The market's own position is that no market would be complete without them.