Wangaratta Farmers' Market

The Wangaratta Farmers' Market was established in 2015 and runs on the second Saturday of the month, 8am to noon, in the grounds of Holy Trinity Cathedral. It works to a rule that is stricter than most: every producer and maker at it is based within 100 kilometres of the Rural City of Wangaratta, and no wholesalers or resellers are permitted.

A hundred kilometres is a real constraint

Drawing a 100km circle around Wangaratta captures a serious slice of north-east Victoria: the King Valley, Glenrowan, Milawa, the Ovens Valley and the country running up towards the alps. That is why the market can be this restrictive and still fill. Wines, gins and beers come out of the King Valley and Glenrowan, and the rest of the stalls are the district's growers and makers selling their own work. The market also pushes for up to 75 per cent of its stallholders to hold Victorian Farmers' Markets Association membership, which is the same test applied a second way. It is supported by the Victorian Government, the Rural City of Wangaratta and the VFMA rather than run as a commercial promotion.

The cathedral grounds give the market lawn and shade rather than bitumen, and they put it a short walk from the centre of Wangaratta, so the market and the town's cafes work as one morning. A four-hour window is standard for a monthly producers' market and it is used properly here: the growers are set up at eight and the crowd builds through the first two hours, so nine to ten is the busiest stretch and the last hour is the quietest.

Before you go

Second Saturday, eight to twelve, monthly. Bring your own bags and a cooler bag for anything that needs to stay cold on the drive home, since a lot of visitors are passing through on a High Country trip rather than driving five minutes. Carry cash as well as a card. Wangaratta sits at the junction of the Hume Freeway and the Great Alpine Road, which makes this an easy stop between Melbourne and the alps, and the King Valley and Milawa food routes are close enough to turn the market into the first stop of a longer day. Check the market's own channels before travelling in bad weather. This is Bpangerang country.