Pre-Christmas event could pave the way for monthly Shipston market

Shipston will host its first ever pre-Christmas market on 17th November 2013. The market is the first event to be held in the town centre under Shipston Town Council’s new status as a Market Authority.

Billed as a food and craft market, the pre-Christmas event is designed to encourage both residents and visitors to head to the town centre for some early Christmas shopping. The market is being run by an external provider who will be responsible for promoting the event and booking stallholders.

If successful, the town council hopes to establish a regular monthly market to bring more shoppers to the town.

Mayor, Ronnie Murphy, said “We are really excited about this new market, which we hope will be the first of many. Shipston has long been known as a market town and it seems only right to put the ‘market’ back into that market town status.”

Establishing a regular market is one of a number of initiatives being considered by the the town council. The aim is to find ways [nbsp]of [nbsp]attracting [nbsp]more [nbsp]people [nbsp]to [nbsp]Shipston, [nbsp]resulting [nbsp]in greater opportunities for local shops, cafes and pubs, alongside market traders.

“The enormously successful Food Festival [nbsp]demonstrated the potential for town markets and events to support existing businesses and enhance our range of attractions for the overall benefit of the town” the Mayor added.

The pre-Christmas market will take place in the High Street from 10am to 4pm. For more details, see the back page.