By Derek Schlennstedt
Warburton Valley’s Handmade Night Market has established itself as a must-do for unique and beautiful Christmas gifts; and much, much more.
Now in its sixth year, the event, on Friday, 1 December, has become a popular Christmas celebration encompassing a community picnic with fresh food, information stalls and entertainment.
This year’s market is shaping up to be the biggest so far, with a multitude of local groups coming on board to share the Christmas cheer and spirit.
The Yarra Valley’s most creative and talented artisans pull out all the stops to stock the Waterwheel complex with an amazing range of unique, quality gifts for the night market including toys and jewellery to clothing, books by local authors and illustrators, cards, home decor, soap and candles.
The emphasis is on quality and design, and the inspiration is to shop locally, Handmade organiser Suyin Chan said.
The waterwheel deck will be bustling with all sorts of stalls, including food fund-raisers from Koha Community Cafe and Warburton Primary School.
Most importantly though, this year’s night market will see two iconic Warburton markets come together to celebrate Christmas, with both the Handmade Night Market and Warburton Summer Produce Market sharing the waterwheel location, being held on the same night.
There’s expected to be more than 40 stalls on the night with facepainting for the kids, and plenty of stalls to find the perfect trinket or treasure for Christmas gifts.
The market is a wonderful opportunity to meet local artists and makers of Warburton Handmade in the shop, the gallery and on the deck, and to find those special items and gifts you wouldn’t find in the big chain stores down the line.
If you can’t make it on market night, pop in to the Waterwheel any day in the lead-up to Christmas.
The night market will be open from 5pm to 9pm at the Waterwheel on Friday 1 December.
