Oh wow! What a fabulous afternoon! It was great to see so many happy, smiley faces.
Even though the weather may have given you some second thoughts about venturing out, many of you made the cold and wet journey to come along and support the first ever Balsham Community Market on the 12th. I have never seen the Institute so full. Just an hour in and it was full to bursting. At one point, you could hardly move.
Hee, hee, we even had a surprise visitor! A blackbird decided to get in on the action and flew in through the front door. After a bit of toing and froing and trying not to make him even more frightened, he eventually let himself out.
It certainly seems our first market was a very successful one too, with lots and lots of happy visitors and many of the food producers sold out very quickly. It outweighed my expectations. I could not believe how busy it was and the atmosphere in the Institute was incredible. In fact, the Institute scrubbed up quite well with lots of fairy lights, Christmas decorations with delicious smells permeating from the café kitchen.
We had 12 farmers and food producers who gave up their Saturday afternoon to bring us their produce and homemade goodies. We had a range of meats, ice creams, savoury foods, sourdough bread, Greek food, homemade preserves, chocolates, fudge, cakes, fruit juices, bird food and feeders and plenty of orders being taken for Christmas deliveries.
Susan Wright ran the Café and it proved to be very popular. Su served up yummy scones for cream teas, Gingerbread men, all-butter shortbread, toffee apple cake, gluten free lemon curd cake and triple chocolate tiffin, as well as tea and coffee.
If you did make it along, I hope you enjoyed the first community market and will come as a regular visitor to support these bi-monthly markets. We need to have a regular flow of visitors to secure the market’s future. Hopefully the buzz will entice you to come to our next market in January and continue to do support it.
“A fantastic job and I really enjoyed the market.” “…great produce, so looking forward to the next one.” “Get there early!”
“There was something for the whole family at the community market! The wide selection of produce meant that we all went home with some goodies. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the coffee shop where the cakes were first class. What a lovely atmosphere and just what Balsham needs. More please!”
“It was a great success and so very well presented. The fairy lights added a real touch of festivity to the hall and the tea and cakes section was lovely and very welcome for many of the visitors. It was brilliant that so many of the villagers chose to respond to your advertising and come out in force. I actually felt part of a community!“ says Anne Borakis, Borakis Greek Food.
“What a lovely day with so many local friendly faces. Myself and other stall holders attend regular Farmers Markets but we all agreed along with our customers this felt like a real community market with a good mix of essentials and treats. We are all looking forward to the next market on the 14th January” Glynis Hanlon, Chocs-Away
If there is anything you would like to see at forthcoming markets or if you have any ideas or comments, please get in touch via email: balshammarket@gmail.com
I would also like to take the opportunity to thank our helpers who did a fantastic job manning the tables or helping Su in the café. Thank you for giving up your Saturday afternoon, it is very much appreciated. Thank you also to The Black Bull and Plumbs Diary for sponsoring the larger advertising boards.
The Balsham Community Market will run every second Saturday of every second month so the next market is Saturday 14th January 2017 at 2pm to 4.30pm. Please note the earlier closing time for January.
At the January market we look forward to introducing some new food producers. Do keep an eye out for regular updates via Facebook www.facebook.com/balshammarket.
See you at the next market on the
14th January 2017!
In the meantime, here are some pictures from the Balsham Community Market.
Balsham Market 