Witchcliffe Farmers Market
A monthly Sunday market at the Druids Hall started in 2024 to give the country south of Margaret River a produce market of its own.
About this market
The Witchcliffe Farmers Market opened on Sunday 27 October 2024, built around a specific gap. Founder and coordinator Freya Brice had been living in Augusta after years around Margaret River and found nothing on offer for locals south of the Margaret River township, so she started one at the Druids Hall in Witchcliffe, the next settlement south down the Bussell Highway.
Hand-picked rather than first-come
The market runs monthly on a Sunday from 9am to 12pm and uses both the hall and the grassed area beside it, which is how a small site fits a market with an indoor kitchen. Brice was explicit that the stallholder list was chosen rather than filled: she described selecting traders "as an extension of my ethics and beliefs on sustainability and connecting people to their food". The launch roster shows what that means in practice, with growers whose businesses are built around food education, pasture-raised eggs and organic meat, sourdough and cut flowers, fermented goods, tea, small-batch soap and skincare, upcycled and vintage clothing, art, jewellery and ceramics. Several of the growers she named at the launch run food education as a deliberate part of their businesses, which is the thread holding the roster together. A coffee cart works the lawn for the whole season.
Market at a glance
One detail from the opening weekend has stuck as the market's shape: the food is not a truck in the car park.
The market hands the Druids Hall kitchen over to a single trader for the day rather than parking food vans on the grass. At the launch that was a dumpling business cooking its signature dishes inside while the coffee cart worked the lawn, and the entertainment came through a partnership with a local events company. The stallholder roster was full before the first market opened, with a waitlist behind it.
Good to know before you go
This is a seasonal market and it closes over winter, so the operator's Instagram is the place to confirm the next date before driving out. Trading is a tight three hours, 9am to 12pm, which for a produce market means arriving closer to nine than to twelve. Witchcliffe is a small settlement on the Bussell Highway a few minutes south of Margaret River, so parking is roadside and around the hall, and the town's cafes and shops make it easy to keep going afterwards. This is Wadandi Noongar country.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When is the Witchcliffe Farmers Market on?
- Monthly on a Sunday, 9am to 12pm, at the Druids Hall and the grassed area beside it. The market takes a break over winter, so check the operator's Instagram for the current date list.
- When did the market start?
- It opened on Sunday 27 October 2024, initially as a monthly trial running through to March, with a stated view to increasing frequency as it grew.
- What sort of stalls are there?
- Local fresh produce, pasture-raised eggs, organic meat and sourdough alongside flowers, fermented goods, tea, soap and skincare, upcycled and vintage clothing, art, jewellery and ceramics, with live music and food in the hall kitchen.