Blackburn Market is joining the UK’s largest celebrations of markets, Love Your Local Market, with some special visitors and great deals for traders to test their business ideas on the market.
Now in its 7th year, the annual Love Your Local Market initiative grew out of the Portas review in 2012 as a one day event. This year’s Love Your Local Market theme is ‘Close to Your Heart’ and is co-ordinated by NABMA, the National Associate of British Market Authorities. Between 17th and 31st May, 3,000 events across the UK will showcase innovation, celebrating heritage, culture, produce, crafts and food. There will also be opportunities for new traders and enterprise initiatives encouraging young enterprise.
On the eve of the wedding of HRH Prince Harry to Meghan Markle there will be a patriotic celebratory theme in Blackburn. As part of a “royal” tour of the North West, the UK’s top look-alikes will be popping into Blackburn Market on a VIP visit to surprise traders and customers two days before the big day!
The Love Your Local Market campaign also gives potential new traders the opportunity to “TRADE FOR A TENNER”. The initiative, which is targeted at makers, artists and crafters, runs for the two weeks of the campaign. People can trade on the market for just £10 a day or opt to trade for a week (six days) for just £50. One lucky winner from the recent Teenage Markets, which was part of the Festival of Making, will also be taking a stall to sell their goods during the campaign.
The market will be celebrating with decorations and traders will be offering special Love Your Local Market deals.
Harriet Roberts, manager of Blackburn BID said, “Blackburn Market is at the heart of the community in our town and we are pleased to be supporting the traders as part of ths campaign.”
NABMA President, Chris Rosling Joseph said: “This year’s theme, Markets: Close to Your Heart reflects the importance of markets as the beating heart of communities across our villages, towns and cities.”
Minister for High Streets, Jake Berry MP said: “Love Your Local Market reflects markets as part of the historical fabric of our communities and that they have an important role in their future. Like our town centres and high streets, markets are rising to the challenge of attracting the modern consumer, becoming more community and partnership focussed and adapting to today’s technologies.”
