Eltham Farmers' Market
A Sunday market in a town whose bohemian identity was shaped by Montsalvat, an artist colony hand-built from Melbourne's own demolished buildings.
About this market
Eltham Farmers' Market trades every Sunday in a town whose creative identity runs deeper than most Melbourne suburbs. Settled since the 1850s, Eltham became genuinely famous in 1934, when artist Justus Jorgensen established Montsalvat, an artist colony built on five hectares of hillside, its houses, halls, studios and galleries all designed and constructed by resident artists using stone, clay, and materials salvaged from Victorian-era buildings being demolished in central Melbourne.
A farmers market in Victoria's original artist colony town
That hands-on, community-built ethos still echoes through Eltham today, and Eltham Farmers' Market carries it forward in its own way: run by Local Food Connect, a local community group, and accredited by the Victorian Farmers' Markets Association, ensuring every stall represents genuine local farmers and value-added producers rather than wholesale resellers. It's a market built on the same principle that shaped Montsalvat nearly a century earlier, that things made and grown locally, by the people who actually made them, carry a different kind of value.
Market at a glance
Reviewers consistently praise the honey, garlic, chilli oil and cold meats on offer, alongside a specific fondness for the gozleme stall, with the market's rooftop car park location at Eltham Village Shopping Centre making parking noticeably easier than many inner-Melbourne farmers markets.
Eltham's arts reputation traces back to 1934, when Montsalvat's founding artists literally built their colony from materials salvaged out of Victorian-era Melbourne buildings being demolished at the time, a hands-on, locally made ethos the town's farmers market still echoes today.
Good to know before you go
Parking on the top level of the Eltham Village Shopping Centre car park is genuinely convenient compared with street parking around busier inner-Melbourne markets. Pairing a market visit with a trip to nearby Montsalvat makes for a fuller day exploring Eltham's distinctive arts heritage.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What time does Eltham Farmers' Market open?
- Sunday, 8am to 12.30pm, at the car park at Eltham Town Mall, 10-18 Arthur Street.
- Who runs the market?
- Eltham Farmers' Market is a project of Local Food Connect, a local community group, and is accredited by the Victorian Farmers' Markets Association, ensuring genuine local farmers and value-added producers rather than resellers fill the stalls.
- What's Montsalvat, and why does it matter to Eltham?
- Montsalvat is an artist colony established in Eltham in 1934 by Justus Jorgensen, its buildings designed and built by resident artists themselves using materials salvaged from Victorian-era buildings being demolished in central Melbourne. It's been central to shaping Eltham's identity as an arts and crafts community ever since.