St Kilda Esplanade Market

St Kilda Esplanade Market

The Esplanade Market is an open-air arts and crafts market held on the footpath of the Upper Esplanade in St Kilda, every Sunday from 10am to 4pm. Times can change at short notice in extreme weather.

Stalls are set out along roughly 350 m of footpath, which runs between 7 m and 10 m wide. Stalls occupy one side only, on the side away from the road, leaving the remainder of the width clear for through traffic. Wheelchairs and prams move through the market comfortably while it is trading. Scooters and bikes are not permitted. The market sits at a single level with no steps along its length, and every entry point onto the footpath is a ramp.

Surface

The footpath is laid in large concrete slabs in a grid pattern. Joints between slabs sit flush, with no lipping or displacement. Hairline cracking and patch repairs appear in places. Slight rises can occur where the paving meets the palm trees planted along the footpath. The market runs alongside a live road.

Public transport

Stop 136 Alfred Square on The Esplanade (TramTracker ID 2541) and Stop 138 Luna Park (TramTracker ID 2543) sit at either end of the market. Both are raised platform stops with shelters and seating, and both appear on Yarra Trams' list of level access stops. Route 96 serves both stops and is operated by low-floor trams, which board level with the platform. Route 16 also serves both stops but runs a mix of low-floor and high-floor trams, so a low-floor service may need to be waited for. The tramTRACKER app marks low-floor services with a wheelchair icon and shows the next three trams at each stop. Some local information signage in the area still lists tram routes 3 and 3a for these stops. Route 3a ceased operating in 2023, and route 3 does not run along The Esplanade.

Parking

Three accessible bays are marked on the Lower Esplanade, 50-80 m from the southern market entrance beside the Palais Theatre. All three are parallel bays, signed, with drop kerbs and no time limit. Two are positioned with the footpath on the passenger side of the vehicle, and one with the footpath on the driver's side. The Lower Esplanade is a dead-end road with a roundabout directly beside the bays, so turning around is straightforward and either approach is possible.

A further parallel bay is on Jacka Boulevard beside the Captain Cook Memorial. It is signed with no time limit, and the footpath sits on the passenger side. This bay has no drop kerb. From here a thin ramped bridge crosses the road and leads directly onto the northern market entrance, a distance of 100–120 m.

The Jacka Boulevard car park has perpendicular accessible bays, signed, with no time limit. It reaches the market by the same route as the Lower Esplanade bays, over a longer distance of about 200 m.

Entrances

The northern and southern entrances are both permanent ramps at a low incline and are comfortable for a wheelchair user to manage.

Toilets

The Public Toilets Lower Esplanade Reserve are gendered bathrooms underneath the market. The ramps leading down to them are considerably steeper than the market entrance ramps and are demanding to walk down and back up. The cubicles are cramped for wheelchair users and there is no dedicated accessible toilet at this location.

The nearest accessible toilets are:

• St Kilda Life Saving Club: 300-400 m from the market, crossing one to two roads

• Public Toilets O'Donnell Gardens: 400-500 m, crossing one road

• St Kilda Sea Baths: 300-350 m, crossing one road, with the accessible toilet inside the building

Road crossings on these routes are signalised with kerb ramps at both ends. Depending on the route taken, a zebra crossing may also be involved.

Seating and facilities

Metal and wood benches with armrests are spaced along the footpath. They sit directly on the same paved surface, with no step or edge to reach them. Some are shaded by the palm trees for part of the day, others sit in open sun. A public drinking fountain is available, and a food truck is usually trading when the market is on. Stall tables vary between stallholders and are generally low rather than raised counters or high benches.