Warburton Valley Market

The Warburton Valley Market trades on the first Sunday of the month, 11am to 3pm, on Thomas Avenue behind the Warburton Arts Centre and close to the river. It is the Sunday half of a two-market operation that began in March 2020 on a farm, and it puts a monthly market in the middle of the Upper Yarra's main town.

Produce, ceramics and vintage in the Upper Yarra

The stall list is broad in a way that suits a valley with a lot of makers in it: fresh local produce sits alongside ceramics, jewellery, plants, vintage and secondhand clothing, tools, wine, soap and honey, with hot food, cookies, artisan bread and eggs covering the eating end. An 11am start is late for a market and it fits Warburton, where the weekend traffic is walkers, cyclists and day-trippers arriving from Melbourne rather than locals shopping before breakfast. The site behind the Arts Centre is a short walk from the main street and the Warburton Rail Trail, so the market slots into a day that is usually already about being outside.

The operator runs two markets on different days at different ends of the valley, which is worth knowing if you are planning around one of them. The other is the ECOSS Valley Market, on Friday afternoons at Yarra Valley ECOSS in Wesburn, about ten minutes back down the Warburton Highway.

Before you drive up

First Sunday, 11am to 3pm. A late start and a four hour window means there is no reason to rush, but also no margin if you arrive at half past two. Bring bags and both cash and card. Parking is around Thomas Avenue and the main street. Warburton sits at the closed end of the valley and is noticeably cooler and wetter than Melbourne, so a layer is rarely wasted. The rail trail, the river walk and the mountain are all right there, which makes the market one part of a day rather than the reason for one. This is Wurundjeri country.