Le Makete Pasifik Night Market Brings Pasifika Vibes to Tarneit Monthly

The island mix plate broke out on Wyndham TikTok before the first market even packed up.

Footage of the loaded takeaway container showed barbecue meat, chop suey, sapasui and taro buried under sauce, and the comments section had one dominant question: when does it happen again?

The answer is the first Saturday of every month from now until November. Le Makete Pasifik Night Market has planted itself at Penrose Place in Tarneit, and after the 4 July launch, the next date is 1 August.

The woman behind it is Valerie Tanuvasa, who runs Le Makete. She has previously brought pop-up Pasifika marketplaces to Berwick and Cranbourne. Tarneit is the western expansion, landing in the new open-air Penrose Place at 42 Wickford Road, a Wyndham City Council venue designed for exactly this kind of community gathering.

Entry is free and the event is pitched as family-friendly, with live music, handmade goods, and retail stalls running alongside the food. The Instagram build-up ahead of the 4 July opening was heavy with west-side excitement. Stall applications are still open for later dates, and the lineup of performers and makers changes each month, so no two markets will be quite the same.

For families searching for a free, all-ages afternoon that mixes dinner with handmade shopping and live Polynesian music, this is a very low-stakes bet. Just check the times before you go: some listings have the market running 12pm to 9pm, others split the day into a 1pm-6pm session or a 4pm-9pm evening slot. The safest move is to keep an eye on @le.makete on Instagram for the confirmed hours for each date.

With only five markets in the series (4 July is already gone, leaving 1 August, 5 September, 3 October, 7 November), missing one means waiting a full month. The pop-up nature also means the stall mix and live acts shift each time, so a dish or maker you spot in August might not be there in September.

Penrose Place also hosts the Firefly Night Market, but Le Makete is a different proposition. It is deliberately Pasifika-first: the food trays are heavy with Polynesian flavours, the music leans into island sounds, and the stallholders are overwhelmingly small Pasifika and local makers. For anyone who caught Le Makete during its earlier runs out east or south, the Tarneit series is the first time the market has landed properly in the western suburbs.

Getting there is straightforward. Penrose Place has on-site parking, and bus route 167 services the area. Check the PTV app for any detours during event weekends.

If you want to stretch the outing, Tarneit Gardens Shopping Centre is a few minutes away by car, and Firefly Night Market runs at Penrose Place on alternative dates, so you can plan a community night out even when Le Makete isn’t on.

The next market fires up on 1 August. If the TikTok reaction to that first island mix plate is any guide, arriving early might not be the worst idea.