These South African markets have been ranked among the best in the world
South African farmers, street, and flea markets continue to draw widespread praise, sporting some of the best on the continent and the world.
Two Gauteng-based markets have been ranked in the world’s top 20, while 12 South African markets haven been ranked in Africa’s top 20 according to a recently released ranking by Merchant Machine.
The Victoria Yards market in Johannesburg and the Market @ The Sheds in Pretoria have been ranked as the 7th and 15th highest-rated tourist markets in the world, respectively.
The company’s approach involved collecting publicly available reviews from Trip Advisor, specifically those labelled as “Farmers Market” or “Street and Flea Market”. This data collection focused on reviews that met a minimum threshold, based on their 5-star rating system.
As such, the United States saw the lion’s share of highly ranked markets.
According to the Merchant Machine rankings, the top 20 best markets in the world are:
| Ranking | Market | Location | Ranking |
| 1 | Provo Farmers Market | Utah, United States | 97% |
| 2 | Bazari Orbeliani | Tbilisi, Georgia | 96% |
| 3 | Sante Fe Society of Artists | New Mexico, United States | 95.2% |
| 4 | Gdanski Bazar Natury | Gdansk, Poland | 92.6% |
| 5 | Red River Market | North Dakota, United States | 92.5% |
| 6 | Native Art Market | Arizona, United States | 92% |
| 7 | Victoria Yards | Johannesburg, South Africa | 91.9% |
| 8 | Feira De Artesanato De Faro | Faro, Portugal | 91.7% |
| 9 | Rathcormac Artisan Food and Craft Market | Sligo, Ireland | 91.1% |
| 10 | Athens Farmers Market | Ohio, United States | 90.6% |
| 11 | Portland Farmers Market | Oregon, United States | 89.3% |
| 12 | Tift Park Community Market | Georgia, United States | 89.3% |
| 13 | Tiny Traders Village | Galway, Ireland | 88.5% |
| 14 | Holland Farmers Market | Michigan, United States | 88% |
| 15 | Market @ The Sheds | Pretoria, South Africa | 87% |
| 16 | Street of the Tentmakers | Cairo, Egypt | 86.2% |
| 17 | Carrboro Farmers Market | North Carolina, United States | 86% |
| 18 | Brigantine Farmers Market | New Jersey, United States | 85.1% |
| 19 | Community Gardens | Texas, United States | 84.6% |
| 20 | Troy Waterfront Farmers Market | New York, United States | 84.4% |
The Victoria Yards market, which is held on the first Sunday of every month, sports a 91.9% 5-star rating.
“Our market is a perfect destination for discovering unique and handmade goods, and we encourage local artisans to share their creations,” said the market, which is known to also present a vast array of food and drink stalls.
The Market @ The Sheds is a monthly market which has received an 87% 5-star rating.
The market is described as an “African urban experience, [which] merges the best of city markets with the flavours of South Africa’s Capital, with local entrepreneurs, designers, artists and musicians.” It sports over 60 stands, 7 live bands/performers, pop-up art exhibitions, creative activations and an open stage where local artists create a laid-back, acoustic, jazzy atmosphere.
Looking at Africa’s highest-rated markets, South Africa sports 12 of the continent’s top 20.
These include:
- Victoria Yards (Johannesburg);
- Market @ The Sheds (Pretoria);
- The Playground (Johannesburg);
- Pretoria Farmers Market (Pretoria);
- Hermanus Country Market (Hermanus);
- The Old Biscuit Mill (Cape Town);
- Hazel Food Market (Pretoria);
- Mojo Market (Cape Town);
- Earth Fair Food Market (Cape Town);
- Mosaic Outdoor Market (Sedgefield);
- The Bryanston Organic and Natural Market (Johannesburg);
- Outeniqua Farmers Market (George).
Read: This street in South Africa was voted as one of the coolest in the world
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