About Us

The Original Open Market is an old fashioned, open air flea market that has been operating since 1982. We are a non-profit organisation which donates the money raised from stall site fees to people, organizations, and charities within the City of Onkaparinga. Our goal is to help as many people in need within the community.

Our stalls sell a wide range of things including second-hand goods and clothes, home grown fresh fruit and vegetables, plants, home made jewellery and crafts, antiques, collectables, bric-a-brac, and much more!

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Who We Are

The market is managed by a committee of dedicated volunteers, who provide
one of the friendliest, most stable, and longest running markets in South Australia.

Our History

In 1982, as an outlet for the toys and handcraft made by a group of unemployed girls meeting regularly at the Baptist Church in Christies Beach, the Christies Beach Open Market was founded. The Original Open Market started with seven stalls. Now, over thirty years later, the market is still going strong and catering to a maximum of 100 stalls.

It has not been an easy journey to establish the market. We have had to adhere to fairly strict rules set by the Council, but the market has always strived to be the best at what it does best, and that is giving back to the community.

Unlike other local markets, the Original Open Market operates on Council grounds and had to apply for Development Approval to continue. Subsequently, Approval was given for 100 stalls of a non-commercial nature, operating on the first and third Sunday of each month from 9am to approximately 2pm.  We now operate from 8am to 1pm.

In the early days food was allowed. Then a manufacturer of commercial food was refused entry because they were underselling the Beach Rd Traders with the products. They complained to the Council who in turn made all food products forbidden at the market.

It took 22 years of hard lobbying to Council to gain permission for the sausage sizzle run by Community Services Groups, such as the five local Surf Life Saving Clubs and the Coast Guard, as they were the lever to help sway the decision. We now have Local Community Groups operating a rostered BBQ.

After a Councillor of the day (Artie Ferguson) suggested that the market become incorporated, a set of rules and objects, in conjunction with the Development Approval regulations, was laid down. These are the rules by which the market operates to this day.

The object of the market is to provide and encourage an opportunity for craft persons, pensioners, other needy causes and locals to set up stalls to sell their crafts and other items of a non-commercial nature. 

We are a unique market with a small number of volunteers involved and we are proud of what has been achieved in 42 years.