The organisers of Ruddington Village Market say this December’s Christmas event will be returning to High Street and St Peter’s Church – after being scaled down last year to take place only on The Green because of COVID-19 concerns.
Ruddington Village Centre Partnership (RVCP) took over the responsibility of organising the annual ‘Christmas Fayre’ from Ruddington Parish Council early last year, with plans to combine it with their festive December Village Market on The Green to make it bigger and better than ever. However, with the Coronavirus pandemic creating major public safety worries at that time, and another possible ‘lockdown’ looming, it was decided that a bustling festive street and multi-venue indoor market would not be possible in 2020.
Twelve months on, things look rather more promising, and RVCP confirms: “We’re pulling out all the stops this December!” It has announced that Ruddington Village Christmas Market will have seasonal stalls across two outdoor venues on Saturday December 4th 2021 – with a later start and extended hours from 12 noon to 7pm.
This will involve the temporary closure of High Street from around 6am to 10pm, where the Main Stage of “live festive music” will also be, along with a further music stage on The Green which is being sponsored by Ruddington’s Thomas James Estate Agents. There will be a ‘pop-up Christmas bar’ for the event, too.
Leia Morales of RVCP confirms there will again be stalls inside St Peter’s Church, from midday until 3.30pm this year, with makers from ‘Handmade in Rudd’ and other community groups now invited to book a table.
“If you are a Ruddington maker and have stock to sell or are able to commit to fulfilling orders in time for Christmas, there is still space available” says Leia. “A table (approx 6ft) will be £15 but there may be an option to share with another maker to halve the cost. If you are interested, please email me leia.morales@travelcounsellors.com ASAP so that I can get everything organised and confirmed. Please include information about what it is that you make and photos if possible.”
Members of the Church will also be participating in this event, and a stall from Ruddington Women’s institute has already been confirmed. Many village centre traders are expected to stay open into the evening to offer late night Christmas shopping that day, too. The event is being supported by ‘Welcome Back’ funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Additional ‘festive’ attractions and activities on the day, such as a visit from Santa Claus, are expected to be announced very soon.
Meantime, there’s the usual Ruddington Village Market on The Green this month – taking place on Saturday, November 6th, between 9.00am and 12.30pm, as normal.
