https://www.facebook.com/838453696024659/

Stallholders of Salamanca, Salamanca Market, Hobart (2026)

Stallholders of Salamanca dives behind the stalls to spotlight the creators, characters and crafts that make Tasmania’s top tourist attraction buzz.

15/08/2026

𝙈𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙨, 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙩.
For about 25 years, Kate Fletcher of Blue Planet has been giving clothes a second life at Salamanca Market, selling recycled and sustainable clothing made from natural fibres alongside her own plant-dyed creations.

“It’s about creating awareness of sustainability and supporting the circular economy. If we’re keeping everything out of landfill and it’s being reused, that’s the most sustainable way of dressing.”

Kate’s real passion is natural dyeing. In her West Hobart backyard studio, she gathers leaves, bark, berries, seaweed and other treasures, wraps them into cloth bundles and simmers them in dye pots.

“You’re painting with plants,” she says. “The beauty is in the surprise.”

The result is clothing in soft yellows, smoky greys, warm pinks and earthy tones, often marked with beautiful imprints from the plants themselves. No two pieces are the same.

Kate’s stall has become something of a sustainable fashion hub, sharing space with other makers and selling garments from fellow sustainable designers. She’s also a passionate believer in keeping clothes in circulation.

“I am always darning, patching and dyeing fabrics and garments.”

Her own wardrobe reflects that philosophy too. “Apart from un**es and thermals, the only new purchases I make are from local makers.”

And then there’s Salamanca Market itself.

“It feels like a real community. It can take at least half an hour to walk a small way because you have to stop and say hi to people and see what’s happening in their worlds.”

Kate Fletcher has plenty of Salamanca memories, including the years when her dresses hung from the trees in what’s now the food section, creating an iconic splash of colour. One of her favourite moments was helping an eloping couple find a wedding dress.

“Knowing you’re providing a garment for a special occasion is fab, and many customers have become our friends.”

Now opposite Parliament House, Kate’s Blue Planet stall is a little reminder that fashion doesn’t have to be disposable. Sometimes the best clothes already exist. They just need a little love, a new colour and another chapter

03/04/2026

𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝑲𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓: 𝑳𝒚𝒏𝒅𝒂 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒏’𝒔 50-𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚

Some Salamanca Market stories begin with a stall. Lynda’s began with pocket money and tiny pottery animals.
Lynda’s connection to Salamanca Market stretches back to 1973, when her mother Jocelyn Salmon started a pottery stall with friend and fellow potter Helen Forster. At the time, Tasmania had two major tourism drawcards: the Market and Wrest Point Casino, then the only legal casino in Australia.
“They used to have people five deep waiting, waving their notes to get served,” Lynda says. “Mum said they didn’t sit down all day.”
By eight or nine, Lynda had joined in, making tiny pottery farm animals to sell for pocket money. She and her sister Chris also collected bullrushes from their family farm dam to sell when they were the must-have decoration of the 1970s.
Back then the market looked very different. “Everyone just had umbrellas instead of gazebos and there was about a metre between each stall,” Lynda remembers. “You could see right down the market.”
After leaving school she spent six years in the public service, but it wasn’t for her. “I was always staring out the window,” she laughs. After four years overseas she returned to Tasmania determined to never work in an office again.
Two days after arriving home, she enrolled in an Associate Diploma of Art, Craft and Design, at the University of Tasmania majoring in jewellery construction and fabrication. It was the first time the course had been offered.
“I was still jet-lagged and there I was learning jewellery,” she says. Out of 20 students, Lynda was the only one who went on to build a career in the field. “I was obsessed. I’d be waiting at the door before it was unlocked.”
For years she sold beaded jewellery at the market while her silver work went to galleries. Over time, she became known for her distinctive floral designs.
“I started doing a couple of flowers and they just kept selling,” she says. “I love gardens, so the floral range grew from there.”
When Covid closed the galleries, Lynda brought her full silver collection back to Salamanca.
“When everything stopped, the creative door opened again,” she says. “All these new designs just flooded in.”
Now, after 30 years of jewellery making, Lynda’s stall is filled with contemporary silver pieces and botanical designs that have become her signature.
More than 50 years after her mother first set up a stall, Lynda is still part of the fabric of Salamanca, quietly creating, listening and letting the work speak for itself.
Salamanca Market

05/12/2025

“𝙄 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙.”
Eve Smith is the heart and hands behind Sea Urchin Design, one of the most beloved clothing stalls at Salamanca Market. Which is Tasmania’s number one tourist attraction, where close to 350 stalls fill the cobblestones every Saturday. Her iconic ocean-themed screen-printed t-shirts have become a staple for locals and visitors alike. Wearable art inspired by her life, her family, and the Tasmanian coast she calls home.
But her connection to the market runs far deeper than her decade of being a permanent stallholder. “Mum was at the very first Salamanca Market in the 70s. She had a leatherwork stall (pictured) - belts, hats, handbags. She was just five stalls along from where I am now, near Kelly’s Steps. It’s kind of spooky being in almost the exact same spot, 50 years later. I didn’t realise until I saw old photos.”
Her mum's market earnings helped buy the family farm in Kettering, where Eve grew up surrounded by art, nature, and a deep sense of creativity. “Both my parents were artists. Mum was a fashion designer, Dad was a painter. I guess it’s in the blood.”
As a teenager, Eve started helping her mum at the market, lugging gear in before sunrise. “And I started making my own clothes pretty young too, mostly because nothing I bought ever fit me. I’ve got long arms and legs, so I started sewing pants that didn’t end above my ankles.”
That practical creativity turned into a passion, and eventually into Sea Urchin Design. “I love using vintage fabrics, which was my primary focus initially. But then I realised I could put my drawings on clothes. Things that people would wear every day, that meant something to them.”
Every design has a story.
“There’s a t-shirt of Shipstern Bluff. My convict ancestors settled on a farm just above Shippies and are still there today. I’ve spent so much time on that coastline.”
One of her most popular designs, a Southern Right Whale, was inspired by one of her most incredible memories on the water. “I was kayaking and a whale lifted me out of the water on its tail. No joke. A photographer captured it from a helicopter. It was wild. I knew I had to make a design about that.”
Other shirts feature lobsters and abalone, inspired by her son, who dives for them. “The lobster shirts are a favourite. People love them. They’re not just souvenirs, they’re Tasmanian stories, told in fabric.”
Eve lives at Dodges Ferry, right on the beach. “I need the ocean, for my soul, for my mental health. If I can get in the salt water, everything’s better.”
She sets up her stall solo every Saturday, turning the market into a one-woman pop-up shop. “That’s what I love about Salamanca. It’s more than a market, it’s a community. You’ve got makers turning up every week, rain or shine. No one complains about the weather. We’re all just doing what we love.”
Her customers come from everywhere. “People come back years later, wearing the same shirts, wanting new ones. They send me photos from around the world. It’s such a privilege to be part of their stories too.”
And the other stallholders? “They’re tough, kind, resourceful people. Market people are a breed of their own. It’s a network, we support each other. I totally get why people stay here their whole lives. Salamanca becomes part of you.”
Eve’s not sure what the future holds, but she knows one thing for sure: “I hope I’m here for a long time.”

28/11/2025

“𝙒𝙚’𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.”
Loretta and David Olsen are more than just stallholders at Salamanca Market - they’re part of its heartbeat. At 86 and 92, they are the last remaining original stallholders from when the market began in 1972, so they are very familiar faces at the iconic market.
But locals will be even more familiar with one of Loretta’s illustrations- the Tasmania Fire Service logo which adorns uniforms and fire trucks across the state.
Loretta fondly remembers the early days of the market:
“Back then there were fewer than 50 stalls. You’d line up at the Hobart City Council and hope for a spot. It was an adventure. Now there’s close to 350 stalls every Saturday - it’s Tasmania’s number one tourist attraction. That still amazes us.”
Each week their Toys to Enjoy - Salamanca stall is filled with handcrafted wooden toys - trucks, pull-alongs, spinning tops, all made with care and old-world charm. “Some of the toys we started with are now considered retro,” Loretta laughs. “That makes me feel both proud… and old.”
This weekend will be their last time trading at Salamanca.
But through their long history, toys weren’t always their trade. “I started out selling pottery,” Loretta says. “I was doing a fine arts degree at university and had all these pots I’d made. I needed somewhere to sell them, so I came to the market. Simple as that.”
Over the years, life changed. They moved to a Georgian farmhouse on 50 acres out on Boyer Road. Loretta gave up her pottery studio, but found inspiration elsewhere - in a visit to Sydney’s Paddy’s Market where she fell in love with traditional wooden toys. “They had so much character,” she says. “I just knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
In the early days, when she wasn’t at the market Loretta worked as an illustrator with the Tas Fire Service and as publicity officer for Tasmania Police.
Loretta designed and illustrated the fire service logo still used to this day.
“I would do that during the week then the market on Saturdays, it was a long week. The toys became our focus and the shop during the week, in the Salamanca Galleria.
“We get up at 3am every Saturday to come to the market, which can be hard at our age. But once we get here, we love it.”
The toys they sell carry values as much as nostalgia. “We’ve never sold toys of violence,” Loretta says. “That was really important to us. We even won an award for it.” David nods. “It’s always been about play - simple, imaginative play. And boys still love trucks. That hasn’t changed.”
Their story is entwined with the market’s evolution, from makeshift stalls under rainbow umbrellas to a bustling hub known across the world. But for Loretta and David, it’s the community that matters most. “Our market neighbours are like family,” Loretta says. “If we’re not here one week, someone will call to check in. That’s what keeps us coming back.”
As they watch generations of customers return - some who first came as children now buying toys for their own grandchildren - it’s hard not to feel the weight of time. “The market’s been our life,” David says.
Loretta smiles. “Every Saturday is special. We come here tired, but once we see the people, the joy, the colour - it feels like home again. We’ll miss it”

21/11/2025

“𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙞𝙩. 𝙂𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙚𝙙.”
They call him Jacko. David Jackson, 89, has the longest standing woodturning stalls at Salamanca Market.
Back in 1972, when the market began, there were less than 50 stalls and just four or five woodturners. Jacko started not long after and has seen the market grow into Tasmania’s number one tourist attraction, with nearly 350 stalls every Saturday.
“It was a different world back then,” he says. “More of a showcase. People came to see what you’d made with your own hands. Now, timber’s everywhere. But I just stick to what I know.”
He’s been working with wood for five decades, entirely self-taught. “You start with something and figure it out. I looked at pictures, bought a few tools, taught myself everything. I’ve got six lathes now, four band saws, and more machinery than I probably need.”
Jacko’s stall is filled with pens, knives, pepper grinders- all made from native Tasmanian timbers like Huon pine, sassafras, blackwood and myrtle. “Huon and sassafras are the ones people love. They’re uniquely Tassie.”
Saturdays start early. “I’m up at 3am. Here by 4. You’ve got to do the set up just so.”
Jacko lives in Blackmans Bay on two acres. During the week, he works on his woodturning every day, eight to 12 hours, without fail. “No weekends off. But I don’t want rest. I like to keep busy. Always have.”
He started work early. “I was a butcher at 11. Ran six miles to the shop every morning. Worked there ‘til I was 14. The headmaster came to ask when I was coming back to school. I told him, ‘When you start paying me.’” He laughs. “Never did go back.”
He’s passed that work ethic on to his children. “I taught them that hard work matters. It keeps you going. Makes you strong.”
Jacko loves meeting and talking to his customers. “They come from everywhere- locals, interstate, all over the world. Some have been coming to me for years. They say the same thing: ‘The quality of your work Jacko, it’s the best.’ That means a lot.”
At 89, he has no plans to stop. “I’ll keep coming here as long as I can. I love this place. The people, the stories. It’s hard work, but it’s a good life.”

Address

Salamanca Market
Hobart, TAS
7000

Opening Hours

8:30am - 3pm

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Stallholders of Salamanca posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Stallholders of Salamanca

15/08/2026

03/04/2026

05/12/2025

28/11/2025

21/11/2025

Address

Opening Hours

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request