Farnham Creates: A Successful Craft Market
On Saturday 10th May, between 10:00 – 16:00, Downing Street was home to a successful and bustling craft market, as part of the activities for the community arts spring festival, Farnham Creates.
The craft market was organised in partnership with the Farnham Maltings Open Day. Downing Street was selected as the best location for the market so as to channel people from the Maltings into the town centre.
The market included 15 stalls, where you could purchase a whole range of gifts for the family; the stalls included hand-crafted jewellery, children’s clothing, canvas pictures, plants and much, much more!
A survey was devised and councillors of Farnham Town Council gathered answers from a sample of people throughout the day.
Mayor Cllr Gillian Beel said: “As it was the first event of this nature, it was important to get feedback about the market and I am pleased to say it was positive. The market displayed great community spirit and a lovely ambiance flowed throughout the air.”
72% of people who completed the survey, visited the craft market were residents of Farnham, 38% of which visited the town specifically for the spring festival.
27% of the people sampled in the survey, visited Farnham for shopping and 60% of people who shopped at the craft market, also shopped in other parts of the town.
An attendee of the market stated “Shoppers who visited the Spring Festival have gone into shops in Downing Street, which they may not have done without the market.”
Although the market involved a road closure, 73% either agreed or strongly agreed that Downing Street was the best location for the market and 77% again either agreed or strongly agreed that the timing of the event on a Saturday was appropriate.
Sir Ray Tindle commented “I have lived in Farnham for over 40 years, and never have I been able to walk down the middle of Downing Street.”
Further comments about the road closure and the location of the event included; “Roads in Farnham should be closed more often."
“I love walking up and down "Downing Street.”
Catherine Cooper, Major Projects Co-ordinator for Farnham Town Council said; “We will be reviewing the event in the next couple of weeks. Before the event, we had informed the emergency services, Highways authorities and the operations manager of Stagecoach of the road closure. In addition, notice of the closure was placed on routes into the town centre. However, we have identified a number of issues from the day, including traffic congestion, which we will be reviewing with the police. With the feedback received from the day, Farnham Town Council will be able to improve on points raised for future events.”
With 75% of people stating they would visit again next year and a demand for more markets; “Do it every Saturday from May until October” the day was a huge success!
