Kallista Village Market
One of Victoria's first community markets, running since 1977 beside Sherbrooke Forest, and brought back by the village after the pandemic nearly ended it.
About this market
Kallista has been holding a market on the first Saturday of the month since 1977, which makes it one of the first community markets in Victoria and older than most of the things people now think of as market traditions. It sets up at the community house on Church Street, a few metres from the edge of Sherbrooke Forest, and trades 9am to 1pm.
Nearly lost, then taken over by the village
The market came close to ending. When the pandemic shut things down and the Kallista Community House closed, the market that had run for more than four decades had no operator and no home. Kallista Village Inc, a volunteer-led not-for-profit, picked it up and restarted it, and has since expanded the format with a boutique hall and a plant fair alongside the main outdoor market. Over 60 stalls now work the site, and the brief the organisers set is specific: handmade, homegrown, local, ethical, sustainable. In practice that means arts and craft, fresh food and produce, plants and seedlings, clothing and jewellery, with local musicians and buskers playing through the morning.
Market at a glance
Entry is free. Stallholder applications run through the market's own address and an external booking platform, which is a sign of how much the operation has been rebuilt since the restart rather than simply resumed.
The market outlived the building it was named after. Kallista Community House closed during the pandemic, and with it went the organisation that had run the market since the 1970s. Rather than let a 40-plus-year-old market lapse, the volunteers of Kallista Village Inc took it on and restarted it on the same site, then added a boutique hall and a plant fair to the format. Very few Australian community markets that stopped in 2020 came back at all, let alone larger.
Good to know before you go
First Saturday, 9am to 1pm, with no market in January. Kallista sits high in the Dandenong Ranges beside Sherbrooke Forest, under an hour from Melbourne but a genuinely different climate: bring a jacket even in spring, and expect the ground to be damp. Parking is on the surrounding streets and fills early, so arriving closer to 9am than to noon is the better plan. Bring cash and bags, and leave room in the car if the plant fair is running. Grants Picnic Ground and the Sherbrooke Forest walking tracks are minutes away. This is Wurundjeri country.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is the Kallista Village Market held?
- The first Saturday of the month, 9am to 1pm, at the community house on Church Street in Kallista. There is no market in January.
- How old is the market?
- It was established in 1977, which makes it one of the first community markets in Victoria.
- What is sold there?
- More than 60 stalls of handmade, homegrown, ethical and sustainable goods: arts and craft, fresh food and produce, plants, clothing and jewellery, plus a boutique hall and a plant fair. Entry is free and there is usually live music from local buskers.