November 21, 2016
The new home of Kingaroy’s Friendship Markets seems to be suiting market goers and stall holders alike.
The markets, which have been running outside the South Burnett Senior Citizens Centre on the third Saturday of every month for more than a decade, relocated to a new site at the Kingaroy Showgrounds in October, and the move appears to be going well.
At their first outing in their new location near Cheers Triangle, the markets attracted 22 stall holders.
But at their second outing on Saturday, this had more than doubled to almost 50.
And organisers are hoping to see as many as 100 stall holders at the next markets on Saturday, December 17, as shoppers gear up for Christmas.
The markets relocated because their former site at the Senior Citizens Centre had limited parking and no real room for expansion.
But the South Burnett Show Society and Kingaroy Rotary stepped in when there was talk of closing them down, and they now operate the markets in partnership.
The Show Society provide the grounds and parking areas, and Rotary handle the stall bookings and run a monthly sausage sizzle as a fundraiser.
Rotarian Ray Pitt told southburnett.com.au he’s confident the markets will prosper at the new location, pointing to the Nanango Show Society’s own monthly Country Markets which routinely attract up to 400 stall holders.
“We now have plenty of parking in the grounds, and lots of room for future expansion,” Ray said.
“Ideally, we’d like to see a minimum of 100 stalls here.
“We’re already looking for more fresh fruit and vegetable stands because the ones we have here are selling out early in the day.
“This proves the demand is there – we just need more stalls to fill it.”
To encourage stall holders to try the new site, Rotary and the Show Society are waiving all stall fees for the first six months.
From April, stalls will cost $12 to $15 per site.
At present the markets run from 7:00am to around noon. But Ray said if all goes well, organisers might look at putting on a special all-day markets once a quarter, capped off with live entertainment.
If you’d like to find out more about running a stall at the Friendship Markets, phone Patrick Eeles on 0419-648-754.
Congratulations South Burnett Show Society and Kingaroy Rotary for your excellent initiative to move the Kingaroy Friendship Markets to the Showgrounds. May the community support the markets and they continue to grow into a local iconic event for the South Burnett