Gasworks Farmers' Market

Gasworks Farmers' Market has traded since January 2006 inside the remaining walls of a South Melbourne gasworks foundry that operated from 1871 until its closure in 1971, one of four Victorian Farmers Markets Association accredited markets in the City of Port Phillip.

Produce inside a former gasworks

The market sets up on the 3rd Saturday of each month from 8am to 1pm, free to enter, within Gasworks Arts Park at 21 Graham Street. Stalls come direct from Victorian farmers and specialty makers selling deep-coloured, ripe fruit and vegetables, hand-made cakes and jams, freshly laid free-range eggs and just-cut flowers, all under the market's own rule that goods must be grown, made and known by the people selling them. It's also plastic-bag-free, so shoppers bring their own bags and containers. That grower-direct rule keeps the stallholder list smaller and more consistent than a general market, which regulars tend to see as a feature rather than a limitation.

The gasworks itself operated for a full century, from 1871 to 1971, before the site sat idle until a 1986 park plan turned it into the arts precinct that now hosts the market alongside galleries, theatre and studio spaces. Gasworks Inc. was formed that same year to develop and run the precinct, and it still oversees the site today.

Good to know before you go

Because it only runs monthly, on the 3rd Saturday, it's worth checking the date before planning a visit rather than assuming any Saturday will do. Free entry and the surrounding arts park make it easy to combine a produce shop with a wander through Gasworks Arts Park's galleries and gardens. Being one of four VFMA-accredited markets in the City of Port Phillip, it's also a reliable choice if provenance and quality accreditation matter to you, since accreditation means every stallholder has been checked against the association's grower-direct rules.