Port Vila Market
A market run by village women, who sleep there for days at a time.
Duration
45 min – 1 hr 30 min
Best time
In the morning
Open
Monday to Saturday midday
Entry price
Free
The Port Vila market is run almost entirely by women from the villages and the other islands of the archipelago. Their situation is logistical: the journey being long and costly, many stay for several days at a time and sleep under their stalls until their produce is sold.
The market opens on Monday morning and does not close until Saturday afternoon — it runs continuously, through the nights. You find root crops, lap lap — a cake of grated tubers baked in leaves — and the fabric for island dresses.
Getting there
On the Port Vila waterfront, in the centre. All on foot from the town centre.
Rules on site
The market closes on Saturday afternoon and reopens on Monday morning: there is nothing on Sunday. Photographing the traders must be asked — many sleep there, and the market is also their lodging.