During the Cally Festival in September 2012, I ran an information stall, asking people to vote for the type of street market they would like to see in the Caledonian Road.
HUNDREDS of people stopped and completed a form - the results of this ballot gave a majority result of: fresh, quality produce.
There were also requests for; clothes, books, gifts, vintage and many other ideas. One overwhelming fact was that people really wanted a street market!
So, on November 2012 The Cally Market opened, it was a hugely successful day, lots of fun and lots of visitors. As it was the run up to Christmas they included plenty of craft and gift stalls and despite some awful weather, it was open every Saturday up to 22nd December.
It has now re-opened with a niche collection of speciality produce. 90% of their traders produce their goods locally; small new businesses which need local support to flourish! From hemp seed chocolate to beer soaked cheese; artisan bread to vegan choc chip muffins, there is a wide range within this speciality market.
Their aims are to develop the market to include more everyday items, monthly Craft or Vintage markets (alongside the regular street traders) and to extend the market along the “Cally”.
The Cally Market is still very “young”, it needs the support of local people to grow and diversify. At the moment they are catering for the majority of votes from our Cally Festival poll; the regular traders offer produce not always available during the week.
As a local resident myself, I would love to see the market grow and to “fill the gaps” that Caledonian Road, as a shopping destination, has. So I pop down there every Saturday, buy a couple of items and chat with the stall holders to let them know I value their turning up every week, in rain, in snow, in gales!
As a result I have become a huge fan of the hemp snack bars, hemp chocolate and the beer soaked cheese : )
So please, come along and take a look, a close look, at what the market has to offer.
In my mind, a market is also a social place and having the market every Saturday brings a little life and community spirit to the Cally, let’s build on that and make the Cally somewhere people head for instead of avoiding!
