Kinglake Market

Kinglake Market began in 2010, the year after the Black Saturday bushfires tore through the Kinglake Ranges, and it has been run by the Rotary Club of Kinglake Ranges ever since. It sets up on the fourth Sunday of the month from 10am to 2pm at 1 Extons Road, Kinglake Central, on a site with room for more than 125 stalls, which makes it one of the larger monthly markets in the hills north east of Melbourne.

More than 125 sites, and a rule about variety

Size alone does not make a market worth the drive, so the organisers manage what gets in. Stall types are limited so that the mix stays varied rather than filling up with a dozen sellers of the same thing, which is the failure mode of any market that grows past a hundred sites. The result is a spread of produce and artisan goods across a large ground, with stalls starting at 3m by 3m, fees from $30, and generator power available on site including three phase for anyone who needs it.

The Rotary connection is the whole financial model. Entry is a gold coin, stall fees are kept low, and the money the market makes goes into the club's community work rather than into the market itself. The club also runs projects like a young driver development program, which in a region of long gravel roads and steep descents is not an abstract cause. Kinglake sits in the ranges proper, and the market is deliberately pitched as a reason to spend the rest of the day exploring the area rather than driving straight back down.

Good to know before you go

Check the month before you go. The market runs on fourth Sundays from February to November, plus a separately scheduled twilight market, so December and January are not a given. Dogs are welcome on a short lead and the venue is set up to be accessible for people with health conditions or impairments. The drive up from Melbourne is winding and takes longer than the distance suggests, so leaving early gets you there closer to the 10am start, which is when a market of this size is at its fullest.