Sign In / Register
A new monthly market is coming to Warkworth’s A&P showgrounds starting at the end of March.
The organisers are Mike Hynes and his partner Vanessa Willems, who already run the successful weekly Mangawhai Tavern Market.
He said they had been looking for a second site further south for some time when they spotted the A&P Society’s cattle sheds and grounds. After approaching the society and Auckland Council for resource consent, they were all set to open in November, when Covid struck again.
Now, the first market will be held from 9.30am to 2pm on Sunday, March 27, and will be repeated on the last, or fourth, Sunday of every month from then on.
“The site is ideal. It’s a great size, we have power, ample parking and use of facilities around the field,” Mike says.
The Warkworth Country Market will be three times bigger than the weekly Mangawhai sale, with 220 sites, including four free sites for community organisations and good causes. There will also be two music stages, with one for buskers and street performers, and 16 food sites along one edge of the grounds.
Mike says regulations mean that food vendors have to be vaccinated against Covid-19, but anyone else does not have to be vaccinated. However, everyone will have to scan in and wear a mask.
And he promised that the market would only accept quality items for sale, with the emphasis on local and NZ-made products, and no plastic packaging.
“We don’t do crap, we vet everybody who wants a stall,” he says. “We’ve got pretty high standards, so no ripped or shoddy gazebos and if you have a table, it has to be covered by a full length cloth.”
Stalls cost $50 plus GST.
Info and applications: Call Mike on 021 247 6683, email info@warkworthcountrymarket.co.nz or visit www.warkworthcountrymarket.co.nz
