Shopping for Christmas Day can be stressful when you can’t find everything you need for your festive feast.

Luckily, Adelaide’s Central Market is open right through until Christmas Eve for all your fresh food needs.

In fact, the iconic market is expecting more than 500,000 people to walk through the  doors in the last two weeks of the season, with 115,000 of those are expected to visit in the final three days.

Adelaide Central Market Authority General Manager Jodie Kannane said Christmas was one of the most exciting times in the Market, with an incredible volume of fresh produce and speciality goods arriving each day.

“There is such a wonderful buzz in our Market, especially during the Christmas period. It’s a time for everyone to come together and share amazing food,” she says.

“We’ll be making it easy for customers to collect their last-minute fresh produce and speciality goods during our extended trading hours in the lead up to Christmas. Our Market will be open every day including Sunday 22 December, Monday 23 December and from 6am on Christmas Eve.”

Signature Market favourites such as local cherries, stone fruit, fresh South Australian seafood, SA leg ham on the bone, Christmas puddings and free-range turkeys will be high in demand, with traders preparing their goods around the clock.

Alternative Christmas treats will be available from House of Health including sprouted gluten free Christmas puddings, raw gingerbread balls, White Christmas and zero waste bonbons. Vegan, gluten free and refined sugar treats will also be in abundance at Jamu including mini Christmas puddings.

South Australian leg ham on the bone will be in abundance, with the only house smoker in Adelaide at O’Connell’s Meats, preparing three tonnes in the lead up to Christmas.

Local Market fishmongers Samtass Seafood and Cappo’s Fish Market are anticipating one of the biggest trade periods for the year, with local prawns, oysters and whole fish in high demand.

Samtass Seafood Manager Michelle Farinola says local sustainable seafood was high on the Christmas list, with customers cooking up whole fish on the BBQ such as Port Lincoln Kingfish and Coorong Mulloway.

“We are expecting a high volume of shoppers to choose local and sustainable catches this year, with options such as Coorong Mulloway in abundance,” she says. “These fish are delicious and sweet when cooked whole on the BBQ.”

The Market will be filled with Christmas spirit showcasing a range of activities for shoppers including carols by local schools and the Australian Girls’ Choir, free cooking demonstrations, workshops, live music and roving entertainment.

Oz Harvest will be returning with the Tree of Goodness in Gouger street dining from 20 – 23 December, with very donation helping decorate the ‘tree’ with a yellow bauble, signifying each contribution made to South Australians in need.

Shoppers looking for the perfect Christmas gift will be able to find the Adelaide Central Market: Stories, People & Recipes Book, available for sale online or from the pop-up stall on the Western roadway from 19 – 24 December.