The Martinborough Fair.

February 7, 2009 by Avalon
Filed under: Life in New Zealand, Things to do

Martinborough is a sleepy town about 20 minutes drive from where we live, famous for having a lot of wineries. And very nice wine.

When I say sleepy – I mean dead. As a doornail. Every time we go there – it is almost as if you are about to see tumbleweeds rolling down the street. Even on the weekends, when people from the big smoke that is Wellington, descend on the Wairarapa in their droves; Martinborough still always seems sadly empty and forlorn.

Except for 3 weekends a year when tens of thousands of people descend on the town. One of those weekends is this one – for the Martinborough fair. It is held on the first Saturday of February and March. (The other weekend is the wonderful Toast Martinborough – a Winery crawl through about 10 of the local vineyards – not to be missed.)
the-suare-at-martinborough-fair Unlike the Taupo event – this is not a medieval fair, it is purely a Street Market – and a pretty bloody big one at that. It covers the whole of the main town square, with stalls selling everything from furniture to food; clothes and jewellery; expensive stuff and cheap tat.

It really is very very good!

Particularly recommended is to get there early, and head to Scottys Butchers, for a breakfast sandwich with steak, onions, bacon and fried eggs. Not for the faint hearted, but it sets you up for the day. It is VERY hot, so it’s nice to get into the square itself and under the cover of the trees.

If you are in the area, and missed this event – it really is worth trying to get to the next one in March.