The Mount Gambier Farmers Market committee is trialling a makers market once a month to coincide with the weekly farmers market.

The Mount Gambier Farmers Market runs from 9am-12pm every Saturday at the Cave Gardens.

As a celebration of the inaugural inclusion, the Christmas Makers and Farmers Market was held last year prior to Christmas.

There were 40 stalls with an even split of growers, producers and makers.

The makers stalls included handmade soaps, woodwork, jewellery, photography, home baked goods, knitting, sewing and clothes.

Mount Gambier Farmers Market committee member Casey Hosking said the group decided it needed to do something to refresh the farmers market initiative.

“The farmers market has been great, and it runs every week, but it was just stagnant,” she said.

“We want to keep the bones of it being a farmers market and really local, so we introduced makers with conditions around it.

“You have to be local within a 250km radius, have to be handmade, do it all yourself and be here to talk about your products and showcase what you can do.

“We really tried to cover everything so there is something for everyone.”

Miss Hosking said organisers were hoping to expand and spread onto the lawn area of the Cave Gardens.

“The response has been amazing, the stall holder interest was phenomenal, and we had to end up turning people away because we had so many,” she said.

“The dream plan eventually is we could go really big, and we’d like to if the interest is there, and the community supports it.

“As long as the community keeps supporting it, we will keep pushing it to grow.

“We are very lucky here, everything is local. The money stays in the community so you cannot ask for better than that.”