Lancefield & District Farmers' Market
A Macedon Ranges producers' market started by the local neighbourhood house in 2003, back on the High Street plantation where it began.
About this market
The Lancefield & District Farmers' Market started in March 2003 as a project of the Lancefield Neighbourhood House, which still manages it, and it now draws around 85 producers to the Centre Plantation in High Street on the fourth Saturday of every month. That address matters locally: the market moved to Lancefield Park for more room, then out to Romsey during the pandemic, and has since come back to where it began.
What around 85 producers actually looks like
Bigger than the usual country market and narrower in focus. The stall list runs to fruit and vegetables, much of it organically grown, regeneratively farmed beef, lamb, chicken and pork, salami, fresh mussels, regional wines, honey, eggs, bread and pastries, fresh pasta, olives and oils, saffron, black garlic, cows' and goats' milk cheeses, preserves, cut flowers, potted herbs and fruit trees. Stockfeed and live poultry sit alongside prickly pear skincare and artisan chocolate, which is a combination you only get where a market serves working farms and weekend visitors at the same time. The Neighbourhood House describes it as an accredited authentic farmers' market under Victorian Farmers' Markets Association standards.
Market at a glance
Lancefield sits in the eastern Macedon Ranges near Hanging Rock, close enough to Melbourne for a morning drive and far enough out that the growers selling here are genuinely local. Live music runs through the morning, there is seating if you want to sit with a coffee rather than shop straight through, and children get free face painting. Dogs on a lead are fine.
In 1843 a Melbourne well-digger named James P. Mayne struck a bed of fossil bones on land that later became Lancefield Park, one of the temporary homes of this market. Excavations from the 1970s dated the bone bed to roughly 26,000 years old and estimated it holds the remains of perhaps 10,000 extinct megafauna, among them the giant kangaroo Macropus titan, the rhinoceros-sized Diprotodon and the flightless Genyornis.
Before you make the drive
Fourth Saturday, 9am to 1pm, and December shifts to the third Saturday so a Christmas trip needs the date checked first. Bring reusable bags and a trolley or basket, which the organisers ask for directly, and cash for the smaller growers. Parking is on and around High Street in the middle of town, so the market is easy to combine with the rest of Lancefield rather than being an out-of-town stop. Come early if you want the produce rather than the atmosphere. This is Taungurung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung country.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is the Lancefield & District Farmers' Market on?
- The fourth Saturday of every month, 9am to 1pm, on the Centre Plantation in High Street. December is the exception and runs on the third Saturday instead.
- Who runs the market?
- It is an initiative of the Lancefield Neighbourhood House, which started it in 2003 and still manages it.
- Can I bring my dog?
- Yes, dogs on a lead are welcome. There is live music, seating and free face painting for children.