Live Music
Each year you can count on a wonderful music program and 2024 was no exception, including The Deans of Soul, Son Quba, the Footscray Gypsies and Malmsbury’s very own acclaimed musicians Ben McGill and Lucy Wise. The public are always invited to participate: give that booty a shake, sing along or give the marimbas a go! Even our stallholders take off their aprons to join the dancing!
Food & Drink
Bring your picnic rug and set up for the day! Hot food and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are for sale both within the Fayre and throughout the town. Dogs on leads are allowed. There are plenty of spaces for picnic rugs as well as tables and chairs available near the music stage.
Local Artisans & Producers
The 2024 Fayre featured over 50 stalls with a diversity of regionally produced arts, crafts and products. You will find everything from skin care products to kids’ toys to pottery and jewellery. You’ll find something for everyone! Become a stallholder.
Free Family Entertainment
The Fayre is known for its unique family activities held in the enchanting Malmsbury Botanic Gardens and lake. In 2024, we had face painting, story telling, roving entertainers, a medieval re-enactment group, meditation tent, craft and a bubble fairy!
See you at the Fayre!
The Botanic Gardens is the perfect backdrop for a picnic, taking a stroll or to view the historic bluestone viaduct. You will find cafes, restaurants, antique and second-hand shops all open on Ellesmere Place and the Main street.
History of the Fayre
The Fayre has become a much anticipated, popular event organised by local community members to raise money for local community groups, to showcase our town and to have fun! The Fayre begun in 2001 at the Blue Stone Mill with just 10 stallholders and attracted about five hundred visitors. It soon outgrew the Mill and moved to the Malmsbury Town Hall in 2003.
By 2006 it had expanded into the adjacent Botanic Gardens as well as the Town Hall. The Fayre continued to grow and fostered a close relationship with the Zingaro festival and its founder and local musician, Andy Rigby. The collaboration of the two festivals was highly successful and continues to be a key feature of the Fayre. In 2015, in an effort to bring the town and the event together, the Fayre was expanded further to add a Malmsbury Makers section and now extends around the lake.
Like many community events, our beloved Fayre was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic and then again in 2022 due to floods. With a new group of committee members and volunteers the Fayre came back as strong as ever in a new time slot – Autumn 2024. Planning has begun for the next Fayre- Sunday April 27th 2025!