Salamanca Market

Salamanca Market is a street market in Salamanca Place, Hobart, Tasmania. It is a major tourist attraction in Tasmania, and is held on Saturdays between 8.30am and 3.00pm.

Salamanca Market in 2008.

1970s

The original idea of running a Community Market in Hobart's Salamanca Place was suggested to Alderman John Clemente in 1971 by the National Council of Women Tasmania through their then President Mrs Grace Montgomery. Alderman Clemente promoted the concept to the Hobart City Council and the Council's Resolution to trial a market was passed on 28 June 1971. The initial market, consisting of about 12 stalls, was located at the Silos end of Salamanca Place and held 7 months later on 22 January 1972.

Salamanca Market operated just in the summer for the first few years of its life. It started 4 weeks before Christmas and ran until Easter. It proved to be so popular and successful that the Tasmanian Puppet Theatre, in 1975, established a Winter Market. In 1977 they were joined and aided in their market's operation by the Salamanca Arts Centre.

Salamanca Market had grown quite considerably by 1977, with many stallholders attending regularly and so an informal Stallholders' Association, chaired by Philip Broughton, was established. He negotiated the concept of 'Permanent Stallholders' with the Council. This resulted in regular stallholders being identified, assigned fixed sites and paying rent in advance.

1980s

By this time the Market had grown to about 150 stalls and now encompassed most of the lower part of Salamanca Place stretching from its origins near the Silos up to Montpellier Retreat.

The Salamanca Stallholders Association was officially established on 19 February 1987.

Later that year the Council took over the running of the Winter Market from the Arts Centre. Over the next year or so the Summer Market's opening hours were changed from 9am-1pm to 9am-2pm.

1990s

In April 1992 the Southern Star reported that Salamanca Market was attended by between 10,000 and 12,000 people every week. Later in the year the Market was extended up to Gladstone St in order to increase the number of sites available to Casual Stallholders.

During 1993 the operating hours of the Market were increased from 9 am-2pm to 9am-3pm. The council gave away 10 stalls to individuals free of charge whilst at the same time it annexed at least one stall from a permanent stall holder without compensation.^[1]

In 1995, more stalls were created in the car park area by the side of the Market near Montpellier Retreat and the sites were allocated to members of the Hmong Community. The following year, the Market was extended from Gladstone St to Davey St.

In 1998/9 a detailed feasibility study on the issue of a Sunday Market in Salamanca Place was undertaken and 3 Sunday Markets were trialed. They were not very successful and ongoing Sunday Markets in Salamanca Place were opposed by both the Stallholders Association and the Sullivans Cove Merchant's Association.

Since 2000

A series of Sunday Markets were run in Mawson Place during January and February 2001.

In September 2009 the Hobart City Council created a subsidiary that would manage the Salamanca Market as its sole shareholder. As the structure was being developed, the council sought input from stallholders who were pushing for a review of the licensing agreement.^[2]

About 12 Market Businesses with their attached Licences are sold every year. Some have paid up to $100K for their occupancy rights, but the average Market Business sale price is nearer $50K.

Salamanca Market grew from 12 stalls in 1972 to 300 in 2010, becoming Tasmania's most visited tourist venue attracting up to 25,000-40,000 visitors every Saturday.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Salamanca Market.

• Hobart City Council -Salamanca Market
• Salamanca Website

Coordinates: 42°53′12″S 147°19′55″E / 42.88667°S 147.33194°E / -42.88667; 147.33194

References