Tamahere Country Market
Tamahere Country Market
“Many of our artists have started here in a small market environment and gone on to build successful businesses... so the market has launched people and we’re very proud of that.”
For over two decades, the Tamahere Country Market has been more than a place to buy handcrafted gifts, fresh produce, or knitted treasures. It has grown into a living example of what can happen when community, creativity and purpose come together in one place.
On the third Saturday of every month, from as early as 6:00am, the grounds of St Stephen’s Anglican Church begin to transform. Stallholders arrive and reverse trailers carefully into place. Gazebos rise into the morning air, alongside a stream of cheerful chatter. And from 8:30am when the gates open to the public, a dedicated team of volunteers take their places to direct traffic with practiced efficiency.
Founded in 2004 by market organiser Jane Manson, what began as an ambitious idea to support the local church has grown into an event that regularly attracts between 2,000 and 3,000 visitors every month. Behind this success lies a balance of strategic planning, volunteer dedication, and an unwavering commitment to people.
The origins of the market came at a time when Manson was preparing to move to Christchurch. While there, she visited the famous Riccarton Market and was struck by its atmosphere and potential.
“I went to the Riccarton Market and thought, gosh, this is fantastic.”
The move never eventuated and when she returned to Tamahere, the idea stayed with her. “I came home and thought, location, location, location. This would be a wonderful place for a market.” Manson worked through council consent processes, organised infrastructure, and built the market from the ground up.
“We started off with thirty sites and went to sixty, and now we have resource consent for one hundred and ten.”
In the early years, before farmers’ markets became widespread, produce dominated the market. But like any successful enterprise, it moved with the times as the landscape changed.
“We had a lot of produce here and it worked really well,” Manson says. “But we had to adapt when the farmers markets came along.” Today, produce still takes priority, but handcrafted goods, plants, textiles, artworks, skincare, and artisan products have become features of the market’s identity.
One of the market’s defining characteristics is its refusal to compromise on authenticity. And according to fellow organiser Trish Houchen, this sets Tamahere apart.
“One of our philosophies is that we don’t allow manufactured goods and we don’t allow imported goods.”
Instead, everything sold must be made by the stallholder or someone closely connected to them. “Everything that’s here is made and crafted by the people who are selling it at the stall.”
That decision has created something special. Visitors are not simply browsing products but meeting makers. They are hearing stories about process and buying pieces of someone’s time, imagination, and craft. Houchen says the market has become a launchpad for many creatives.
“Many of our artists have started here in a small market environment and gone on to build successful businesses… so the market has launched people and we’re very proud of that.”
In some cases, it has been life changing. Manson remembers reading a feature in a local paper about one stallholder whose clothing business had nearly collapsed.
“It said Tamahere Country Market saved my life.”
The woman had arrived intending to sell off her remaining stock and close her business. Instead, exposure at the market reignited her confidence and customer base. “She realised that she had a real gift and that she should keep going.” Eventually, she reopened her business.
While visitors may see rows of colourful stalls, behind every market day lies an enormous amount of unseen planning by the organising team. Manson herself personally curates every market.
“You don’t want a whole market full of jewellery or a whole market full of skincare or baby clothes,” she explains. “So it’s about having a good variety.” Placement has become an art form with competing businesses carefully spaced and placed. Popular food stalls are deliberately positioned to draw people through the grounds.
“It’s a bit like when you go shopping in a supermarket,” Manson says. “There’s a reason why they put biscuits where they put them.”
Houchen has long admired Manson’s strategy. “There’s some very clever strategising that goes on,” she says. “And that’s all down to Jane.”
But for Manson, logistics are only half the equation. “If we didn’t have site holders, we wouldn’t have a market.”
That understanding has shaped the culture from the beginning. What the organisers speak about most often is not sales or attendance figures. It is people.
“I think a lot of it is a social thing.” Manson says.
Many stallholders work alone during the month, painting, carving, knitting, planting, sculpting, or sewing from home studios and spare bedrooms.
“They do that often in isolation,” she says. “And they can come out here and once a month it can be their time.”
Because stallholders typically return to the same site each month, friendships naturally form.
“They get to know all the people around them who help them set up their gazebos, lend them a tablecloth… it really creates a little community.”
Visitors experience that same sense of connection.
“People catch up with their neighbours because they don’t see them during the day anymore,” Houchen adds.
Families arrange to meet there and friends reconnect after years apart.
“That’s quite amazing,” she says. “And isn’t that lovely that you can create a place where that can occur?”
The market’s operation depends on dozens of volunteers from the church and wider community. According to Sue Burns, the vicar at St Stephen’s Church, every market day is a coordinated effort.
“All the nuts and bolts of the day are run by volunteers from our church community.”
That includes parking teams, rubbish collection, food service, setup crews, and youth volunteers who arrive as early as 6am. Teenagers direct traffic, empty bins, manage safety fencing, and help close down at day’s end.
“They are a wonderful group of kids who just turn up every month.”
Burns says the market has even helped shape young lives. She tells the story of one young volunteer who struggled at school but found purpose helping the team each month. “He’s now an Olympic champion.” Other volunteers have gone on to international success in music and sport after gaining confidence and responsibility through the market environment.
Long-time stallholder Kay Dingle has a deep understanding of the market’s impact. For the past five years, Dingle has sold her beautifully handcrafted knitted animals; bears, lions, elephants, giraffes, pigs, and countless others, all dressed in intricate removable clothing.
“They’re very popular,” she says with a smile. “They’re always very admired.”
Her journey began thanks to her granddaughter.
“She bought me this knitting book for my birthday and that’s how it started. If it hadn’t been for her, I would never have done it.” Each animal takes extraordinary patience. “If I sat nine to five, I’d get two done in a week.”
For Dingle, the rewards are not financial. Instead, it is the reactions that keep her coming back.
“One day a little girl who had a physical disability… her father bought her a lion and she just stood there and cuddled it. It honestly could bring tears to your eyes.”
Visitors may not know why the atmosphere feels different, but organisers hear it often.
“People say to us, ‘I don’t know why, but this market’s different.’”
Burns believes the site itself plays a role. Established in 1883, the church has long served as a gathering place. “Every person that comes across the boundary,” Burns says, “belongs here.”
That philosophy extends into action. Fundraising groups may be given discounted sites. Schools sell cookbooks. Young entrepreneurs test business ideas. And part of the market’s income supports charity.
“We offer space to people who need that hand up,” Houchen says.
The spirit of the market community is evident in another regular stallholder, Mike Shortt-Smith. His polished rocks are a unique form of art. It’s a craft Shortt-Smith finds inspiring through the experience of using modern tools on ancient objects to achieve a satisfying outcome.
Alongside the larger works on display, he keeps a stockpile of small, polished stones at his stall. These are handed out to curious children with an encouraging message to rub the smooth objects whenever they are upset or frustrated. As Mike tells it, ‘happy is a choice,’ and he always looks to bring a little positivity into his interactions with market visitors. It’s a simple yet beautiful reminder for us all.
As the surrounding area of Tamahere continues to grow outwards, new challenges loom, particularly around parking and urban development. Yet despite the pressures, organisers remain optimistic.
“We’re in our 22nd year to keep this going and it’s remarkable,” Houchen says.
Given that the sense of belonging may be Tamahere Country Market’s greatest strength, it bodes well for the future of the event. It’s a gathering that continues to offer the valuable gift of connection, not just between buyer and seller but between artist and audience. It is an inclusive, welcoming community and for thousands of people each month, that is what keeps them coming back.