Bedford is known for its markets and thanks to £60,000 in funding from the Town Centre Priority Fund, Bedford Borough’s Charter Market stalls have seen a recent, specialist upgrade with new awnings and a refreshed look.
It is great to see this investment come to fruition, with the market stalls receiving new metalwork and new canvas covers which look fantastic. It is wonderful to see this further investment in our Town Centre and I’d urge everyone to head down on Wednesday and Saturday to our fabulous markets and to our rich programme of specialist markets and events.
With the work now complete, the stalls in our market square are visually so much better and, most importantly, drier for our traders. The last two and a half years have been extremely challenging for our town centre and market traders and the impacts of the pandemic have been far-reaching. That’s why I urge everyone to come out and support our local traders.
Our markets add so much to our towns. From Bedford Charter Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays, Kempston market on Thursdays, or other specialist markets, there is something for everyone.
This Sunday (9 October) we will welcome back the Bedford Flea, Affordable Art and Local Produce Market on St Paul’s Square and the following weekend we will host the Vegan Streetfest on 15 October in Harpur Square.
I know the Markets Teams are working on exciting plans for the Christmas Lights switch-on in both Bedford and Kempston and I will share more information about this on my Facebook page and on twitter – you can also sign-up to my regular emails to keep informed about events in Bedford, Kempston and across the Borough at mayordave.org.uk/SignUp.
You can find out more information about Bedford Borough Markets, including how to become a trader at bedford.gov.uk/business/markets/.
Recently we saw two events in Bedford town centre. There was a special Flower Flash to mark the start of the Great Big Green Week and Festival Africa also took place. You can see some photographs here.
