Myrtleford Farmers Market
A High Country produce market in the town's piazza, selling what grew on farms that used to be tobacco.
About this market
Myrtleford was Australia's tobacco town for most of the twentieth century, built on the crop that Italian migrants arriving in the 1920s and after the Second World War made the district's mainstay until the industry closed in 2006. The farmers market that runs in the Piazza on the fourth Saturday of the month, 8.30am to 12.30pm, sells what those same farms grow now.
What replaced tobacco is what is on the tables
The changeover is visible in the stall list rather than the local history plaques. Nut groves, berry and kiwifruit farms, apple orchards, olive groves, vineyards and hops now occupy ground that grew tobacco, and beef and dairy cattle never left. So the market runs to artisan breads and cheeses, seasonal vegetables, honey, mushrooms, nuts, fish, beef, coffee and baked goods, with plants and handmade craft filling out the edges. The market is accredited through the Victorian Farmers' Markets Association and was founded by TAFCO Rural Supplies, the local rural merchant, which is a fair signal of how tightly it sits inside the district's own farming economy.
Market at a glance
The Piazza puts the market in the middle of town rather than on its outskirts, which makes it walkable from the main street and easy to combine with the rest of Myrtleford. That matters more here than in a city, because the High Country farm gates that supply many of these stallholders are spread across the Ovens and Buffalo valleys, and the market is the one morning a month when they are in one place. A December twilight edition swaps the morning slot for a 4pm to 8pm session.
The corrugated iron tobacco kilns that dry-cured Myrtleford's crop still stand across the district. Tobacco was the region's major crop until the industry closed in 2006, and the vineyards, hop gardens and nut groves that supply this market are largely planted on the ground it left behind.
Good to know before you go
Fourth Saturday, 8.30 to 12.30, and the produce stalls empty before the closing time rather than at it, so this is a market that rewards arriving in the first hour. Bring a gold coin for entry, cash for the smaller growers and your own bags. The December twilight market runs in the evening instead of the morning, so check the date before planning a Christmas trip around it. Myrtleford sits on the Great Alpine Road between Wangaratta and Bright, which makes the market an easy detour on a High Country weekend rather than a destination on its own. This is Dhudhuroa and Waywurru country.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is the Myrtleford Farmers Market on?
- The fourth Saturday of the month, 8.30am to 12.30pm, at the Piazza on Myrtle Street in the centre of Myrtleford.
- Is there an entry fee?
- Entry is by gold coin donation.
- What does VFMA accreditation mean here?
- It means the market is accredited by the Victorian Farmers' Markets Association, so the people selling have genuinely grown, reared, caught, baked or made what is on their table rather than bought it in to resell.