Trafalgar Farmers Market

Trafalgar Farmers Market held its first market in September 2023 and had passed sixty regular stalls within a year. That is quick growth for a monthly market in a West Gippsland town of a few thousand people, and it says something about how much latent demand there was in the Baw Baw shire. It trades on the first Saturday of the month, 9am to 1pm, at the Trafalgar Park Bowls Club on Ashby Street beside McGregor Park.

Make it, bake it, sew it, grow it

The market works to a four part motto, make it, bake it, sew it, grow it, which sets out plainly what a stallholder is expected to be selling. In practice that produces a spread across vegetables, bread, cheeses and meats on the food side and handcrafted goods on the other, with the emphasis on local trade rather than on bringing in outside traders to fill space.

Trafalgar sits on the Princes Highway between Moe and Warragul, which gives the market a catchment far wider than the town itself. It is an easy detour for anyone travelling the highway on a Saturday morning, and the bowls club site keeps it close to the centre of town without putting it in the middle of highway traffic.

Market at a glance

2023Founded in September

60+Regular stalls

1stSaturday each month

9am–1pmTrading hours

Practical notes for a first visit

The bowls club and the adjoining McGregor Park give the market room and parking, and the park is a reasonable place to stop with children once the shopping is done. The first Saturday timing is worth noting for anyone also visiting Warragul Farmers Market, which runs on the third Saturday, so a Gippsland month can take in both rather than forcing a choice between them.

Because the market is still young, its stallholder list is growing rather than settled, and the operators direct visitors to their Facebook page for each month's line up. That is the place to look if you are making the trip for a specific producer. The market also keeps its own website with contact details for stallholder enquiries.