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For many Canberrans, Braddon is often the place to be on a sunny weekend morning. Throw in a new farmers’ market into the mix in the inner-north hotspot, and the streets were bustling even more than normal. Sunday marked the first week of operation for the new Haig Park Village Markets, which saw more than 40 stallholders set up shop in the Braddon park for a day of trade. Market directors Rosie Green and Alexandra Webb said initial crowd numbers and sales exceeded expectations with a large turnout throughout the day. “It’s been steady the whole time since the first crowds got here at 7.45am and it hasn’t stopped since,” Ms Webb said. “It’s been phenomenal, we couldn’t imagine a better first day.” The markets, which will become a weekly fixture in the park, included stalls selling fresh fruits and vegetables, flowers, arts and crafts along with food and drinks and live music. Such was the demand during the day that several stalls were all sold out of produce at least three hours before the end of the markets. Work on the markets has been months in the making for the co-directors. “It’s been about six months of calls and discussions with stall holders,” Ms Green said. “We didn’t want to grow the market too big at first and end up with something too overwhelming for the community, and 40 stall holders has been a good amount.” The market’s co-director said they saw the weekly event as a way to rejuvenate space around Haig Park. Along with the bustling crowd checking out the markets in between Lonsdale Street and Henty Street, many were making the most of the weather and setting up picnics nearby. “There have already been some activations in the park before and we jumped right into that,” Ms Green said. “We want to have the markets and also have more picnics in the park and work with other community groups and have events on throughout the day and people can bring their friends and families along.” One of the stallholders was April Widdup, whose stall 8ballfood sold donuts and toasties along with baked goods to hungry punters. While the markets were meant to wrap up by 2pm, Ms Widdup said the stall had all sold out of supplies before midday. It was the first large-scale market for Ms Widdup’s stall, who said her involvement in the markets came about from some fortunate timing. “I first met Rosie and Alex when they were measuring out the markets [at Haig Park] and I was with friends at the time and I asked what [the directors] were doing,” Ms Widdup said. “At the time, I was trying to set up a vegan market stall, and I got chatting with them and they were all very supportive and it all fell into place from there.” Ms Widdup said many of the ingredients used in the food she sells came from her own garden, as part of an effort to be more sustainable. Judging by the success of the first week of sales at the market, she said more food was probably needed for future weeks. “We didn’t know what to expect at first but it’s been so good and everyone has been so nice and friendly and there has been a lot of foot traffic,” she said. The market’s directors said Sunday’s launch was just the start, and hoped it would only expand going forward. “We do intend to grow, we wanted to start small so we could find our feet and we made sure everything went well, but we do intend to grow,” Ms Webb said. “This is just the beginning, and we want to grow slowly so we do it right and we want it to become an iconic market.”
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For many Canberrans, Braddon is often the place to be on a sunny weekend morning.
Throw in a new farmers’ market into the mix in the inner-north hotspot, and the streets were bustling even more than normal.
Sunday marked the first week of operation for the new Haig Park Village Markets, which saw more than 40 stallholders set up shop in the Braddon park for a day of trade.
Market directors Rosie Green and Alexandra Webb said initial crowd numbers and sales exceeded expectations with a large turnout throughout the day.
“It’s been steady the whole time since the first crowds got here at 7.45am and it hasn’t stopped since,” Ms Webb said.
“It’s been phenomenal, we couldn’t imagine a better first day.”
The markets, which will become a weekly fixture in the park, included stalls selling fresh fruits and vegetables, flowers, arts and crafts along with food and drinks and live music.
Such was the demand during the day that several stalls were all sold out of produce at least three hours before the end of the markets.
Work on the markets has been months in the making for the co-directors.
“It’s been about six months of calls and discussions with stall holders,” Ms Green said. “We didn’t want to grow the market too big at first and end up with something too overwhelming for the community, and 40 stall holders has been a good amount.”
The market’s co-director said they saw the weekly event as a way to rejuvenate space around Haig Park.
Along with the bustling crowd checking out the markets in between Lonsdale Street and Henty Street, many were making the most of the weather and setting up picnics nearby.
“There have already been some activations in the park before and we jumped right into that,” Ms Green said.
“We want to have the markets and also have more picnics in the park and work with other community groups and have events on throughout the day and people can bring their friends and families along.”
One of the stallholders was April Widdup, whose stall 8ballfood sold donuts and toasties along with baked goods to hungry punters.
While the markets were meant to wrap up by 2pm, Ms Widdup said the stall had all sold out of supplies before midday.
It was the first large-scale market for Ms Widdup’s stall, who said her involvement in the markets came about from some fortunate timing.
Haig Park Village Markets stall holders 8ballfood owners April Widdup and Georgia Faul. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos
“I first met Rosie and Alex when they were measuring out the markets [at Haig Park] and I was with friends at the time and I asked what [the directors] were doing,” Ms Widdup said.
“At the time, I was trying to set up a vegan market stall, and I got chatting with them and they were all very supportive and it all fell into place from there.”
Ms Widdup said many of the ingredients used in the food she sells came from her own garden, as part of an effort to be more sustainable.
Judging by the success of the first week of sales at the market, she said more food was probably needed for future weeks.
“We didn’t know what to expect at first but it’s been so good and everyone has been so nice and friendly and there has been a lot of foot traffic,” she said.
The market’s directors said Sunday’s launch was just the start, and hoped it would only expand going forward.
“We do intend to grow, we wanted to start small so we could find our feet and we made sure everything went well, but we do intend to grow,” Ms Webb said.
“This is just the beginning, and we want to grow slowly so we do it right and we want it to become an iconic market.”
