World Bee Day 2026

This World Bee Day, join us at the Market

One Saturday. One very important cause. And a whole lot of honey.

The Capital Region Farmers Market is proud to mark World Bee Day for another year, because every grower and producer at the Market knows first-hand just how much depends on bees and other pollinators.

World Bee Day is observed globally on 20 May, and we’re bringing the celebration to EPIC on Saturday 16 May 2026. Come along for a morning of education, activity and some genuinely delicious honey-inspired food.

Why bees and pollinators matter

This year’s theme is the importance of pollinators. It’s a timely reminder that the humble bee is doing some of the heaviest lifting in our food system, often without us even noticing.

Here in the Canberra region, our growers see the work of pollinators every single season. According to World Bee Day Australia, bees are essential to:

• Food security – close to two-thirds of Australia’s agricultural output depends on bee pollination. The produce you pick up at the Market each Saturday is living proof.
• Biodiversity – certain plant species rely on specific bee species to reproduce. Lose one, and you risk losing the other.
• Ecosystem health – a thriving bee population supports clean water, healthy soil and the kind of biodiversity that keeps our landscapes resilient for generations to come.

Celebrate World Bee Day at Market: 

ABC Radio Canberra live from the Market

The team from ABC Radio Canberra is joining us for a live outside broadcast, with Emma Bickley and gardening expert Willow hosting the Saturday morning gardening program from right here at the Market. Bring your trickiest gardening questions, your prized cuttings, and your curiosity. Willow will be on hand to talk pollinators, planting and everything in between.

Meet the bee experts

Two community stalls are setting up shop for the day to share their love of bees:

• ACT for Bees will run educational and interactive displays, with hands-on activities designed for curious kids and grown-ups alike.
• The ACT Beekeepers Association will have working beekeepers on site, ready to answer every question you’ve ever had about hives, honey and what it takes to keep a colony thriving.

A traditional Slovenian honey breakfast

The Rotary Club of Hall is serving a traditional Slovenian honey breakfast in the spirit of World Bee Day’s origins. The recipe is beautifully simple: fresh bread, sliced apple, and honey from our own producers. It’s the kind of breakfast that reminds you that good food doesn’t need to be complicated, it just needs to be made well, be fresh and taste good.

Help us paint the hive

The Rotary tent is hosting a family mural painting station. Grab a potato stamp, dip it in paint, and add your mark to the Market hive. By the end of the morning, we’ll have a community-made artwork to hang proudly in the shed.

There’ll be face painting too, so the kids can leave looking suitably bee-themed.

Buzz-worthy treats from our producers

Our stallholders have pulled out their best honey-themed produce for the occasion:

• Honey macarons from Creme n Sugar Patisserie.
• Bienenstich from Unter den Linden, the classic German “bee sting” cake of choux, cream and caramelised almonds. Along with Spiced Honey – Apple Lebkuchen tarts and a Fermented spiced Honey Lebkuchen Gingerbread.
• Honey cakes and honey & orange rice pudding from Sweet Amalia.
• An exclusive Honey Vodka plus Honey Gin created by Everyday Legacy.
• Free Coffee Honey Caramel Shot with every coffee purchase from Unscripted Fermantation & Coffee plus honey sauces including The Sweet One – Hot Honey, Spiced Blackberry Honey and Coffee Honey Syrup
• Straight-from-the-hive honey from Martin’s Honey and Isabella 1822.

Come hungry. Leave with sticky fingers and a smile.