By ANEEKA SIMONIS
IF YOU want to have a perfect Sunday of family fun, good food and unique shopping, look no further than the Emerald Community Market.
Overlooking the picturesque Mount Dandenong settings, the community market is your one-stop shop, selling everything from handmade craft, terrariums and bare root plants through to artisan bread, pasture-fed meats, Dutch donuts and award-winning English jam and preserves.
Held every third Sunday of the month, stallholder co-ordinator Michelle Perera said the market, running for the past nine years, had something for everyone, young and old, including a face painter and jumping castle for kids.
“The whole family is catered for at the market. It is a great place to socialise, have lunch, peruse the stalls and bring back something unique,” she said.
With over 70 stalls running each month for the past nine years, the market attracts between 3000 and 4000 visitors looking for goodies that just can’t be bought in a supermarket.
“Our stallholders carry a diverse range of high quality and locally produced products that people in this area may not be able to purchase otherwise,” Perera said.
Better still, the market helps raise funds for the Performing and Visual Arts in Emerald (PAVE) Festival which is in its 10th year. Having put on 35 events, in disciplines such as theatre and writing, the market’s fund-raising efforts are invaluable to Emerald’s creative community.
The market is an Emerald Community House initiative, held from 9am-3pm year round. For more information about the Emerald Community Market, visit http://www.emeraldcommunityhouse.org.au/.
