Market on your calendars! Sutton is entering the farmer’s market scene.

Posted on 30 August, 2022

It’ll take you longer to load the kids into the car than it will take you to get to this new family-friendly farmer’s market in Sutton, located less than 30 minutes from Canberra.

Launching on Sunday 4 September (and held every fortnight afterward), it’s the perfect excuse to get out of the house and support boutique regional businesses, community groups, and entertainment.

It’s a project that has been bubbling away for a couple of years, but according to market management Yolanda Haverfield the wait is finally over—and it’s being kickstarted on the right note with a performance of a Lion Dance Blessing from the Canberra Dragon Dance Academy.

“They’re local to the area and they approached us offering to bless our markets for us. So, that will be lovely and was absolutely lovely of them to offer,” says Yolanda.

Popping up on the local oval and with free (and ample) parking it will be a dream come true for those used to the Canberra scene (where you’re used to fighting tooth and nail for a place to park your car).

“We’ve both been stallholders ourselves in the past, and we just wanted to showcase that we’ve got lots of beautiful small businesses around the Sutton area and the Yass Valley region,” says the other half of the market management team, Sandie Moore.

“We want to be able to showcase what’s here locally. Even just looking at when we first started, we have found lots of little businesses that we didn’t even know existed in the area,”

And while little ones might not find the prospect of local produce as exciting as us, they’ll be thrilled face painting, a playground on site and buskers performing throughout the day, perfect for a family outing. The best part? Your four-legged family member is also welcome!

“We’re hoping this will bring the community together. We get lots of people driving through the village each weekend because we’re just off the highway, but no one’s stopping. So, we thought our market could be the attraction needed to make the excuse to stop on a Sunday as you’re driving out past us and maybe pick up something from the local businesses,” Sandie says.

“It’ll also give visitors a chance to get that country feel. They get to see the quaint little village that is Sutton. We’ve got a few other little businesses around as well. We’ve got a great bakery called, The Little Sutton Bakehouse on the corner and we’ve got a gorgeous little gallery,” Yolanda says.

It won’t just be wares up for grabs. Local community groups will also be given a free stall on a rotating schedule so that they can use to raise funds, awareness and share information.

“The school want to use it to help raise some funds, the Community Association are looking to get the awareness of the group out and to try to get some more volunteers involved. The rural fire service wants to look at getting information out to locals, about things like when the fire seasons are approaching. They’re educational and fundraising type stores,” Sandie says.

And with the big markets struggling to stock fresh fruit and vegetables, this could be your sign to give a farmers market the chance to sign in your weekly menu.

“We’re hoping the markets will grow in-store holders and it’s something that can be dependable, where people can say ‘I can go to the Sutton Village Country Market, and I can pick up my fresh produce from local farmers and growers.’ We want to be dependable and somewhere people can rely upon being there,” Yolanda says.

Any excuse for a mini road trip has us jumping for joy and with the bonus of being able to buy ourselves a treat, you can bet we are counting down the days!