The St. Kilda Esplanade Market

A Unique Shopping Experience Awaits at this Melbourne Beach Location

Dec 8, 2007

Every city has its list of popular attractions, and the Esplanade Market in St. Kilda is one of Melbourne's favourites.

A warm spring breeze hints at the approaching hot Australian summer and weaves the smell of hot donuts and barbequing sausages through the air. The delighted screams of children enjoying amusement rides at nearby Luna Park can be intermittently heard. Market stalls line the street, stretched against the backdrop of the St. Kilda foreshore and trams that ply the Esplanade route.

Over 170 artists come to sell their work every Sunday of the year, from 10am to 5pm, along the renowned St. Kilda Esplanade. Operating since 1970 in this eclectic Melbourne bayside location, the market supports a high standard of artists and crafts people.

There’s the expected market fare - leather belts, oil paintings of landscapes, and silver jewellery. However, majority of the market is made up of weird and wonderful wares. Each piece is original, handmade, and has a story to tell. Of particular interest is a stall selling a range of Australian outback body scrubs, a stall displaying a collection of large wooden hand carved dices, and a stall containing an array of juggling balls and fire twirling sticks. One stall is occupied by a startling menagerie of spaced out looking animals, constructed from springs and bits of painted tin. In yet another stall, a young couple sit bottle feeding their baby while an artist draws their portrait. You'll also find brightly coloured desiger bags, scarves, hats, ceramics, glassware, and even puppets.

It’s a leisurely setting befitting a Sunday afternoon. The crowd ranges from those who are obviously tourists, to those obviously in love and more absorbed in each other than the goods on offer. Of course there are families too, being lead along by impatient children who view the market stalls as an obstacle in their way of getting to the amusement park. The dress is summery and casual. However, occasionally someone will stand out from the crowd - an Asian couple donning formal attire, and a guy with a shaved head, beard and multiple piercings, dressed from head to toe in black.

If you look hard enough you’ll notice reminders of St. Kilda’s notorious past as Melbourne’s red light district, and home to many of the city’s disadvantaged and homeless people. Old converted mansions operating as public boarding houses, and the odd sight of unkempt individuals roaming in dirty and tattered clothes, all belie St. Kilda’s now trendy image.

On the opposite side of the street to the market, the historic Esplanade Hotel – more intimately known as ‘The Espy’ to its loyal regulars – has its usual Sunday scene. The Espy has been subjected to many threats of redevelopment but so far has managed to remain standing, proudly untouched, as modern apartment complexes close in and surround it. Always lively, and with bands playing most nights of the week, the Espy is the perfect place to sit and take in St. Kilda’s atmosphere after you’ve finished browsing the market. Grab an outdoor or window seat overlooking the bay and you’ll be in the perfect position to watch the sun slowly disappear down the horizon.

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