The Mapusa Friday market
Mapusa, the market town of Bardez, has held a large weekly market on Fridays for generations. Villagers come from across north Goa and from Maharashtra to sell produce, and the main market building and surrounding streets fill from early morning. Unlike Anjuna, it is a working market, shopped mostly by Goans.
Your guide leads you through the sections: strings of chouriço sausages and dried fish, piles of red chillies, kokum, tamarind and jaggery, local vegetables and wild greens, earthenware pots for fish curry, and in season, mangoes, jackfruit and cashew apples. Women from the villages sell homemade pickles, recheado masala and coconut sweets.
We stop for a cup of tea and a ros omelette or a plate of bhaji pao at a market café and finish before the late-morning heat. Purchases can be packed and sent back to your villa or hotel with the driver.
Questions travellers ask
Good to know
What day is the Mapusa market?
The main market day is Friday, from early morning to early afternoon, though the market building trades on other days too. Fridays bring villagers and traders from across north Goa. Arrive by 9 am for the best produce and lighter crowds.
What is the difference between the Mapusa and Anjuna markets?
Mapusa is a working market for Goans, selling food, spices, pottery and household goods. Anjuna is a flea market aimed at visitors, with textiles, silverwork and souvenirs. For Goan ingredients and local life, Mapusa is far better.
What should I buy at Mapusa market?
Goan pork chouriço, recheado masala, kokum, palm jaggery, cashews, local pickles and earthenware cooking pots. In season, mangoes such as Mankurad, and jackfruit. Your guide can help choose and have food items packed for travel.
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