The Porter Estate Produce Market in Tokai is one of my very favourite markets, particularly in summer. If you haven’t been yet, it’s an outdoor market with a rustic ‘English village market’ style to it.

Set amongst the trees of the Chrysalis Academy in Tokai, it’s a fabulous way to spend a Saturday morning – tasting handmade cheeses, sampling organic vinegars, finding out more about worm farms from some experts…

And organisers have special plans for December – they were recently in touch with an update on their latest news:

We will be open every Sat in Dec from 8am-1pm, an hour earlier than usual, so that there is more time to shop before it gets too hot. We currently host almost 50 fresh produce stalls and 20 original gift stalls. Avoid the chaos at the mall and shop for Christmas presents in the forest instead!

We are creating more shaded seating areas and have installed a new doggy trough with fresh cool water at the top of the market.

Our kids activities now include our massive shaded sand pit, jungle gym, jumping castle, sand art, horse rides, face painting and more.

We will be having treasure hunts for the toddlers, busking musicians and raffling off delicious prizes every market day in December.

We have been growing and evolving since we opened our market almost 2 years ago and are looking forward to the end of year festivities.

We are more passionate than ever about eating and taking home fresh delicious foods and enjoying a brilliant relaxed morning outdoors surrounded by nature in the company of friends and family.

An early start sounds like a grand plan, because it sure does get hot when the sun starts pumping, and though vendors make every effort to keep things cool, it’s way better to get in there before the sun gets the better of them.

The Porter Estate Produce Market takes place on the grounds of the Chrysalis Academy in Tokai every Saturday morning between 8am and 1pm for the month of December. Parking is plentiful and entrance costs R5 per car (proceeds go to the Chrysalis Academy).

DISCLAIMER: Please use any event information as a guide only. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy thereof, things do change – and the best way to make sure something is definitely on is to contact the event organisers themselves. Full bells’n'whistles disclaimer here.