History - Eskmarket (Esk Market)
Eleven years ago a very enthusiastic group involved with Interweave, undertook to develop a new market in Launceston. This concept was supported by the Launceston City Council and the then Inveresk Railyards Management Authority. The Launceston Eskmarket (or Esk Market) was later established in the Roundhouse Precinct at the Inveresk Railyards.
This market was of high quality product including craft, fine food and wine. The initial response to this event was remarkable with a large crowd on opening day and reasonable crowds were to follow for some weeks.
For a market to survive you need both patrons who are prepared to spend money and stall holders with a product that meets market demand. Unfortunately both these requirements started to decline as adequate demand was not forthcoming for such a narrow product line.
The market then moved to the former Exhibition Building still under the control of Interweave. After a period Interweave deemed this project was no longer viable for them to continue and handed the market to a group of existing stall holders. This group continued to conduct the market on a weekly basis eventually relocating to the Johnston Pavilion, on the area occupied by the Show Society. By this time the market had expanded to include all manner of goods to ensure a variety of stalls were present for visitors.
Although dedicated and committed to the survival of their market the management group of stallholders were overstretched and the final hurdle came when confronted with an escalation in insurance premiums.
In an endeavour to ensure the markets survival the management group handed the market to the Show Society. At this point the market consisted of 33 stalls.
A redevelopment plan was prepared and has now been successfully implemented by the Show Society.
Today's Position
At this point in time we have 153 indoor sites, of which over 130 of these are permanent stallholders, plus a varying number of outdoor sites. Attendance is estimated in excess of 2,000 people each Sunday. This provides our stallholders with a substantial volume of potential customers to sell their wares. It also creates the opportunity to conduct other events in association with the market and its crowd.
