Events Archive

Here we keep records of our reports from past market square events, starting from 11/04/09.

Morris Dancers Make A Pleasant Difference!

On Saturday July 3rd Morris dancing took place against the historic backdrop of some of the oldest buildings on the Market Square, and provided a lovely moving picture on a warm sunny day. All traders spoken to agreed it was really good to see the Morris Dancing event on the Market Square. Our traders liked them, they did not interrupt trade in any way, and they provided a magnificently colourful spectacle of lovely traditional costumes and dancing.

As one trader said: 'This is a great piece of English heritage, a live performance that fits in well against the background of the Market Square. It is the sort of traditional event you might expect to see on any English market square over the last couple of hundred years'.

Another remarked: 'This is nice to watch for traders and customers alike. It's a bit of Old England come back, and visitors love it. They should try to put this sort of thing on several times a year, instead of noisy bands. All my customers paused to look at the dancing, but I never lost a customer'.

The Morris dancers brought their own music, and this was traditional music on a human scale, so there were no complaints like we've been getting in recent weeks about music turned up too loud. The event went off very well. Congratulations to the organisers, and let's have more like it.

In fact the only sad thing was that it was all over so quickly, and traders - and customers - kept asking if there would be a further performance later on. Alas, after performing at several town centre venues here in Northampton, the Morris dancers had to move on afterwards to other towns within the county.

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Armed Forces Day Spoiled by Noisy Events Team!

Once again the market events team had the volume turned up far too loud, this time at the Armed Forces Day event on the market square, Saturday 26th June. Once again traders had difficulty talking with their customers, even difficulty hearing orders shouted across the fruit stalls.

One fruit trader told us: "The noise was so loud my guys had to give up shouting the gear. Then when the music stopped for a minute or two, we started shouting again. When the music started we had to stop again, as nobody could hear us. It went on like that for hours. It was crazy to have it turned up so loud. The music itself was not so bad, it was just being amplified far too loud. Thank God it stopped at two o'clock so we could start selling again."

Other traders along the front row said the music was ruined by being played far too loud, and had given some people headaches during the three hours it had been on. "The band was great," Said one trader on the front row, "I don't mind swing music, but they spoiled it by being too loud. When that music came out (1940's) it was meant to be played at live band volume, not blasted out through huge loudspeakers. It was great old music spoiled by stupidity. The people responsible should be replaced by people who know music."

Another front row trader said that customers had to wait until the music stopped for a minute or so before they could request items or ask for advice. When the music started again the customers could not be heard speaking. " I have no dislike of the music, especially for Armed Forces Day, but there was absolutely no need to blast it out so loud that it was ruined. Why make life a misery for us (traders) on such a nice day?"

Asked if anyone had requested the music to be turned down, a trader said: "What's the point? Last week I asked for it to be turned down, and they did for a few minutes, then one of the events team waved her arms and shouted: "Lets have some volume! Bring it up! Bring it up - lets have some volume!" and then it was turned up even louder than before. Asked who had done this, he replied "I don't know any names - it was the mad one!" We've no idea who this could be, of course, but if you have, email us and let us know.

There is a strong likelihood that the new market traders committee will be asking for the market square events team to go before the NBC Scrutiny Committee, as it is obvious that livelihoods are being threatened by lost sales and trade is being turned away from the market by events that are unnecessarily and painfully loud. Why should traders have to pay higher rents on Saturdays to be subjected to this kind of physical torture?
 
Northampton Market is a shopping market, not a fair ground. A market is a place where people like to browse the stalls in peace and quiet, hopefully buying as they go. If there is muted music on in the background to give a pleasant ambience, nobody is going to object to that.

But if a few thoughtless or ignorant and ruthless people are given complete control of whether traders lives are to be a misery or not every Saturday, regardless of what traders feel about the matter, then that is a kind of Fascism, a dictatorship of the oppressed, and must be opposed by every decent person. This is what our fathers and our grandfathers fought against. This is why we have an Armed Forces Day, to remind us of the sacrifices made in the past that we might live free from oppression.

It is to the great shame of the Liberal Democrat Party that this is happening while they are in control of the borough council here, a visible disgrace. We hear there is to be a Vote of No Confidence in the events team at the next market traders general meeting, and moves to bring the market square events team under Scrutiny are under way.

Next May if things do not improve there will be a massive public Vote of No Confidence in the local Liberal Democrat Party, and these turkeys - as Fitzy calls them - will be despatched.

There have been many complaints about this sort of noisy event, which annoy traders nearby who have to put up with the noise all day long while attempting to talk to customers, and also annoy traders further up the market by drawing people out of the market rows and down to the event. Some examples: Worst Saturday; Noisy Events Again; Hell on the Grid and only last week: Noisy Bicycle Event all due to the market events team.

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Noisy Bicycle Event Annoys Traders!

Loud blaring 'music' to accompany a 'bicycle ballet' and bike spin gym classes annoyed traders for most of the day at the Bicycle Show on the market square last Saturday, June 19th.

Quite why the music needed to be played so loud was never discovered, and although the music was turned down temporarily after traders' complaints, it was turned up again not long afterwards, and stayed that way. Communication with customers was difficult.

NBC events team must take responsibility for yet another noisy event on a market day, where traders stand to lose trade from prospective customers driven away by loud music. NBC obviously doesn't care if traders lose money. Traders on the front row of stalls facing the event told us they were 'shattered' after a long day with continuous music blasting out, and even traders further up inside the market said that they were suffering from hearing the 'bang - bang - bang' of bass notes most of the day.

There were many complaints last year about this sort of noisy event, which annoy traders nearby who have to put up with the noise all day long while attempting to talk to customers, and also annoy traders further up the market by drawing people out of the market rows and down to the event. Some examples: Worst Saturday; Noisy Events Again; Hell on the Grid.

For a while late last summer and autumn, after repeated complaints from the market traders' committee, the events team began to see common sense, and began putting noisy events on non-market days, or in the evenings after the traders had gone home. For a while the market returned to some kind of peaceful normality, with only quiet events on during market hours.

This year though things have reverted to what they were before, with traders being made to clear their stalls for an arts market on the top rows on June 13th, and with the siting of a 'sculpture' made of leather right in the middle of the market at the end of July for a couple of weeks, which displaces traders to the bottom of the market where their regular customers probably won't find them.

Now we have noisy events starting up again, so the new market traders committee after the AGM of 23rd of June will be facing the same problems as the last one. It is very obvious that the traders and Northampton Market itself come a poor second in importance to the events on the bottom of the square. Never have the traders had to suffer under such an arrogant self-righteous political crew as those who presently run NBC.

Is this intentional? Are NBC deliberately trying to discourage trade on the market? It certainly looks that way to traders who see their older customers having to brave loud pounding music just to try to buy something, and to customers who struggle to make themselves heard over the din. And if you are trading at the top end of the market, you see newcomers to the market hurrying down through the aisles to see what all the noise is about at the bottom, instead of browsing their way down through the rows and hopefully buying gear on the way.

It is some small comfort to know that these events and the market square events team itself will be a thing of the past after March next year, when the last government's spendthrift funding which powers these events comes to an end. In a time when the current government is telling us we should be tightening our belts, there will hopefully be no future funding for the sort of ludicrous events that traders have had to put up with for the last year or two, and no room for the sort of people who plan and carry out these noisy events, regardless of the protests of market traders.

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NBC Plans for the Market.
 At a Guildhall meeting packed with market traders on Wednesday 14th April, Town Centre Manager Derrick Simpson laid out the current NBC plans for changes to Northampton Market. He began by strenuously denying rumours about the Market Square being used as a future bus park, but said nothing about the rumours concerning future car parking and redevelopment.

 Mr Simpson stressed that only two double rows of stalls would now be replaced, instead of the three double rows originally envisaged. The rest of the market would not be touched this year, and not until at least March next year. Mr Simpson said that he would not now be removing boards and trestles from the market until alternatives approved by the traders had been found. Traders acknowledged that this was a sensible decision.

 Fielding many questions from a roomful of irate traders, Mr Simpson managed admirably to hold the meeting together, and everyone had a chance to make heard their point of view. You can read a full report of the meeting on our Market News pages.

Italian Market - Welcome but Expensive!
On Friday 16th and Saturday 17th April the now-monthly Italian Market set up on the builder-besieged bottom part of the Market Square. Although trade was not brisk with many sweets and biscuits at £1.90 per 100 gms, and some cheese at £23.90 a Kilo, (a bit more than the current price of scrap Silver at 23p a gram!), there was plenty of variety to look at, and even occasionally buy.

The regular market did not appear to benefit very much, with most traders questioned reporting a quiet time on both days, and putting this down to a quiet period after the Easter holidays. One aspect of the Italian Market layout noted favourably by traders was that the regular market Main Aisle and Mini Aisle continued all the way through the Italian Market, giving some integration and making easier access to both markets.

March 2010: Northampton market traders heard recently that the borough council (NBC) which runs the market, is proposing to remove three double rows of traditional stalls in June, and replace them with pop-up gazebos which have relatively poor weatherproofing. In addition NBC also propose removing all the traditional boards and trestles from the market, making traders bring their own tables.

Traders' Opposition
As can be imagined these huge changes have not gone down well, and the traders' committee balloted Northampton traders to obtain their views. The results showed very strong opposition to the proposed changes. Out of 68 traders who returned ballot papers, 44 said they would be unhappy with pop-up stalls; 61 would be unhappy about having their boards and trestles taken away, and 61 would be unhappy to have another reallocation of stalls which would result from the stall replacements.

Urgent Talks Requested
As a result of this, the traders' Northampton branch committee of the National Market Traders Federation have asked leading NBC Cabinet members for urgent talks, as Northampton traders are very indignant about the proposed changes, particularly as they were moved against their wishes, and against the wishes of 11,000 Northampton shoppers, only last year. NBC wanted the bottom half of the market square as an 'events area', and crammed the market into the top half of the square.

Quality Of Market Offer Has Suffered.
After the enforced move some long-standing traders left, disgusted with the way they had been pushed around, and others have left since. This has meant the variety of stalls has suffered, and some unique lines once offered are no longer available. More 'lowlines' like smokers stalls have moved in, lowering the overall quality retail offer of the market. Since the move the market has gradually tried to recover, but a survey last autumn showed that only 5 (11.36%) traders said they were doing better than before the move, and 27 (61.36%) said they were doing worse.

'On A Down-bound Train'
All this despite the NBC putting on a number of 'events', all paid for out of national government grant money to improve the market square, with the intention of bringing more people into the town centre. Locally- famous market trader and Internet blogger Eamonn 'Fitzy' Fitzpatrick commented: "Since the Liberal Democrat council started 'improving' the market by gradually destroying it, many traders have felt they are on a down-bound train." See Fitzy’s views on the changes.
The traders feel that more removal of the traditional stalls, and the removal of boards and trestles, which have been part of the stall rental for over 60 years, will prove disastrous for many traders, and for Northampton Market itself.

Deliberate Policy?
Many people - not only traders - believe the constant NBC changes to the market are part of a deliberate cold-blooded plan to get rid of Northampton's market, in order to clear the square for bus parking when the present town centre bus station is demolished in a few years time, as it is the only remaining large open space in Northampton's cramped town centre. Long-term, there may be plans to use the market square as the grand entrance to the new proposed Grosvenor Centre, unsullied by market stalls. Killing something by pretending to help it or renovate it with the help of national government grants is a favourite tactic of local governments in many areas. It remains to be seen if the planned changes to the market will go ahead, or will be altered in some way after talks have taken place.

"Mickey Mouse Market"
Local traders' branch secretary Keith Westhead said: "I have never seen the traders so angry and indignant over any issue. Giving us tacky seaside stalls in place of the present strong traditional stalls would be bad enough, but to take away our strong boards and trestles would be the last straw. However could the smaller traders survive? If traders have to bring paste-tables to display goods it will have all the high-quality attraction of a car boot sale, and turn it into a Mickey Mouse market. Tacky seaside stalls and paste-tables is certainly not the way to go.

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Save The Market!

You couldn't make it up! Recently the webmaster of this site was asked, by a Northampton borough council employee, if the phrase 'Save the Market' on this site could be changed... read more at 'You couldn't make it up!’

German Market was a commercial failure! The German Market standing in the bottom half of the Market Square from late November to almost Christmas was a commercial failure for the German traders.

Liberal-Democrats still intend to close Town Centre Superloo!  After a drive into town, the first thing most people want to do after parking is to use the toilet, but it seems they’ll be right out of luck in Liberal Democrat controlled Northampton, where the best toilets in town - they have won many awards - are set to close after March 31st. Not just the best public toilets in the town centre streets but the only public toilets of any size. See Holding on...  For lots more interesting stuff on how the Lib-Dems are running NBC, see the Save Our Services website.

How are the Traders finding things now?
Ever wondered how Northampton Market Traders are finding trade after having been forcibly moved over nine months ago, despite the 11,000 signature Petition to let them stay where they were? Well, the market traders' committee did a survey a month or two ago, and here are the results: Market Traders' Survey.

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German Market was a commercial failure!

The German Market standing in the bottom half of the Market Square from late November to almost Christmas was a commercial failure for the German traders. Only a few stalls did any amount of trade on weekdays, and most did very little. Saturday trade could not carry the week.

Traders are always keen to know how others are doing, and many of the German stalls were in full view of our traders during the pre-Christmas period, and on weekdays some were seen to do little trade all day. When we spoke with some of the German and Polish traders, they told us that trade was very poor except on Saturdays when more people with money appeared to be about, and trade improved a little. To be fair, their prices were a great deal higher than Northampton people are used to, and many local people toured the German Market without spending a penny, and even told us so. Most traders felt happy to have them there, as did the council, hoping they would bring the shoppers teeming in, but this did not happen. No shops around the market, or our market traders themselves, reported greatly increased trade over the usual pre - Christmas period.

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Liberal Democrats to close Superloo!

After news broke here in late 2009 that the Liberal democrats were about to close the Superloo Town Centre toilets, they suddenly changed their minds, saying that although they will still be closing the Superloo, it now won't be until the end of the financial year in March 2010. Our thanks to the Chronicle & Echo for publicising the closure, and to those local councillors who brought pressure to bear to enable it to stay open a little longer.

After a drive into town, the first thing most people want to do after parking is to use the toilet, but it seems they’ll be right out of luck in Liberal Democrat controlled Northampton, where the best toilets in town - they have won many awards - are set to close after March 31st. Not just the best public toilets in the town centre streets but the only public toilets of any size. See Holding on...  For lots more interesting stuff on how the Lib-Dems are running NBC, see the Save Our Services website.

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Liberal Democrats Back-pedalling Furiously! (Christmas Week 2009)

After news broke here at the start of this week that the Liberal Democrats were about to close the Superloo Town Centre toilets, they have been back-pedalling furiously to deny this, saying that now, although they will still be closing the Superloo, it won’t be until the end of the the financial year in March 2010. Our thanks to the Chronicle & Echo for publicising the closure, and to those local councillors who brought pressure to bear.

After a drive into town, the first thing most people want to do after parking is to use the toilet, but it seems they’ll be right out of luck in Liberal Democrat controlled Northampton, where the best toilets in town - they have won many awards - are set to close after March 31st. Not just the best public toilets in the town centre streets but the only public toilets of any size.This in a town whose council aspire to it being a City! Perhaps they want it to be the first City in the UK without public toilets? Dirtiest City in the UK? What a claim to fame!

When NBC said they would eventually be closing the public toilets - this was several months ago - they said they would be replacing them with a list of private toilets available to the public in shops, pubs, and council offices, based on the Richmond model. So far there hasn’t been a word about these proposed replacements - perhaps they don’t exist?

Once again a very bad show on the part of the Liberal Democrats, and one not likely to endear their candidates to the public in the next General Election! Market traders and shoppers will be campaigning to reopen the Superloo if it closes. For more details see Holding on...

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German Market - First two weeks...
Opening on the 24th November, the German market quietly fizzled away during it's first week, becoming busier on Saturday 28th when the festive shopping season officially opened in Northampton Town Centre, and the Christmas lights were turned on.

During the second week it attracted a few customers into the marketplace, but didn't start to look busy until Friday 4th and Saturday 5th of December, when it was apparent that extra people had come into town and were sampling the German wares on display. Some of our traders reported a bit of spin-off on those days.

The German market stays open to 9 PM every night, and although it does a bit on Friday and particularly Saturday nights, most evenings are pretty quiet. Our man came down on a Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings around 7 - 8 PM, and found the marketplace pretty well deserted of people, with far more staff than customers on the German market. Perhaps it will get busier as we get closer to Christmas, who knows. Meanwhile, soldier on, meine Kameraden

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Italian Market - It went down well, but was a bit expensive to swallow...
The two-day visit of the Italian Market on November 5th and 6th brought a number of visitors and shoppers into town, and some traders reported a bit of spin-off in trade. Nothing to get excited about mind, but a step in the right direction.

One reported reason for some of the spin-off was the high price of most of the Italian Market goods. With many delicacies priced at £1.90+ for 100 grams, and some even more than this, most people who were buying appeared to buying small quantities. Even everyday items like bread were expensive, often at £2.50 a loaf. Some formidable Italian cheeses were on display at around £25 a kilo, but whether many were sold is another story.

So some of our traders inevitably got a bit of trade from people who couldn't afford much Italian gear. Luckily the weather stayed good for the most part, which was just as well considering the flimsiness of the Italians' stalls. One good gale and they'd have taken to the skies!

The German Market is coming soon, for about a month. See the 'Coming Soon...' link above for more details. We expect their stalls will be a great deal better constructed

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Saturday September 26th saw 'Take a Fresh Look at Northampton Market'.
This was a home-grown event, in more ways than one. There were interesting cookery and smoothie-making demonstrations using produce straight off the market; and there were local musicians, and even talented market traders giving live demos on how this or that is done. Lady traders took a major part in the fashion parades on the catwalk, modelling clothes sourced directly from the market. These fashion parades went down very well with the audience who gathered to watch every performance.

Trader participation in the event was very high, with (almost) everyone wearing the red T-shirt, and often acting as voluntary stewards in helping shoppers and event-goers to find what they were looking for. The event was also graced by the presence of Faye Quigley, President of the National Market Traders' Federation, who toured both the open market with its event, and an additional event, the Bicycle Bazaar, which was on in the nearby Fishmarket Arts Centre. Along with Senior Market Officer Jane Spence, Faye was on hand to give advice and encouragement to potential market traders most of the day.

The music was kept to an acceptable sound level throughout by the market events team, who had their work cut out arranging a myriad of small acts presentations and demos instead of just two or three. Whenever there are lots of different individuals and groups involved, all with their own egos, it can be quite hard work to fit them all into their own slot where they should be, at the right time. So congratulations to the events team person responsible; we know who you are.

This time the stage was situated at the bottom centre of the empty space, with a catwalk extending towards the market, and somehow this layout appeared to bring the event and the market together and integrate them better than on previous occasions when the stage has been situated off to one side. So long as none of the front-row traders are blocked off by extra event stalls, this layout looks like an improvement, and hopefully it will be used again. It all helped to make it look like this was 'our' event, rather than this was 'their' event.

Thanks must go to those traders' committee members who put in hours and hours of hard work and co-operation with the events team and the market office to make this day a success; thanks also to the events team and to the market officers, and to all those market traders who participated on the day.

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On September 12th we had a nice little Antiques Market on the bottom part of the Square. This was a genuine 'shopping event' of the kind the market traders have been asking for, and it was certainly a success. We had a nice crowd around the antique and bric-a-brac stalls, many of whom probably came into the town centre especially for this event. Some trade spilled over into the general market stalls nearby, and several traders near the event mentioned they had seen an increase in trade.

This demonstrates what we've been talking about for some time; that 'shopping events' bring shoppers into town, and it is likely they will spend money while they are in the town centre, unlike most of those who come in for a free event, because this latter group don't have much to spend.

So lets have more 'shopping events' like the antiques market. It would be nice to make it a regular event too, perhaps once a month would be ideal. This would build up a regular spot in the antiques market circuit, and also encourage local people to come in and have a look on a regular basis. Well done events team for a successful event that was welcomed both by traders and by market customers.

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Saturday 29th August.
Has Northamptonshire Got Talent? (Some traders are still not sure, are you?).
This event featured the finals of a contest put together by NBC, The Grosvenor Centre, and local Radio Station Heart 96.6. Auditions started on Monday 17 August and ran for a few days. The finals on Saturday were to be supervised by Heart Radio judges Jagger & Woody. The final talent contest ran from around 2 PM onwards, and the market square events team were keeping a careful eye on the sound levels, so we got no complaints about noise. Trade was reported as about average, although there seemed to be a few more people about.

A couple of leading Liberal Democrat councillors came out to savour the show and sun themselves, and Fitzy as usual went over to have a word. Apparently one of them suggested he go on holiday. Fitzy laughed: 'You'll all be on holiday soon!' He reminded them. There have been recent whispered Liberal Democrat rumours of a Changing of the Guards being organised behind the scenes. Possibly before the next General Election?

Saturday 22nd August: It was the Companion Dog Show, which looks like becoming an annual event. A great many pooches of all shapes and sizes brought their owners into town, and the bottom of the Square was quite crowded with people as well as dogs. Well done Senior Market Officer Jane Spence and her team, who organised the event, and raised £538 for the local charity Animals In Need.

See: http://www.animals-in-need.org/

People love to see a dog show, and the event was well attended. Caterers and some Fruit & Veg. traders reported a bit of an increase in trade on the day, which is good news, but most traders said trade stayed about average.

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Friday 21st August brought a curious local BBC event. Apparently the purpose was to make people aware of identity theft and identity fraud, and featured the destruction of dozens of computer hard disk drives, which were first hand-drilled and then run over by a motor roller which, because it was a small lightweight one, didn’t make much impression at all. Although the idea behind the show may have been good, it was quite a ludicrous exhibition to anyone who has worked in data destruction. They don’t really do it like this, folks! The links below will give you a better idea of how it’s really done:

http://www.data-terminators.co.uk/service.htm

You want to D-I-Y? check this:

http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml

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Saturday 15th August saw the Shoe Festival Parade around the Town Centre ending in the Square, watched by a great many people. The size of the crowd was quite surprising considering there were other big attractions on the same day; with the Balloon Festival on at Billing, and the Umbrella Fair taking place on the Racecourse Park. Traders who were asked said that despite the crowded bottom half of the Square trade was only that of a usual Saturday, and nothing to get excited about, although caterers reported a marked improvement.

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Friday 14th August saw a variety of event stalls scattered about in the bottom of the Square, perhaps the most important being those showing the Northampton Central Area Action Plan, which could be discussed with the Planners who manned the stalls. Here the West Northamptonshire Emergent Joint Core Strategy could also be learnedly discussed, if you so wished. The planning people did their patient best to explain their plans, and even the Vision for Northampton’s Town Centre, and it must be said that the maps shown were optimistic with many new and improved facilities for the people of the town. What relationship they bear to future reality cannot at this time be known, but much of what was suggested appeared to be good, but short on detail.
Later on that same evening, after the traders had packed away, we had a really lively musical event, the locally famous Ginger Pig Band giving a well-received evening of jazz and blues. The band were excellent, and the lighting and stage effects were also very professional. This was a proper use of the empty Square and the place was packed with people. Full marks to the Richardson brothers for an excellent evening gig that didn’t bother the traders one bit!

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Saturday 8th August saw a Cookery Demonstration event on the market square, fielded by Richard Fox and colleagues. About a score or more people sat in the ample chairs provided and watched the demo, while as many again hung around watching.
The event seemed to be well appreciated, because when one session of the demo finished and one sitting of people got up to go, another set came in to take many of the empty seats. So quite a number of people got to see this demonstration. Hopefully they went and bought fresh ingredients off the market afterwards, before they went off home to try out their new recipes. The event provided an interesting diversion for shoppers as well as casual by-passers, and seemed to go down well with everyone who watched. Nice one, market events team.
Also present on the bottom half of the Square was an exhibit where old shoes were sprayed with paint in various colours; this seemed to be something to do with the 'Shoe Town' exhibition which is currently running, and perhaps could be termed artistic.
The council's mobile compost recycling exhibit was also present, with a wealth of information for the would-be composter. But £28 for a plastic composting bin, even though subsidised, seemed rather more than many local people would want to fork out. These things are durable, and last for years, but do require a stiff initial investment. If you can, make your compost bins from recycled materials. That way it costs you nowt, and makes use of stuff that might otherwise be wasted. Here's a link to get you started in home composting.

http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/compost-bin/
 

Traders spoken to were quite pleased with this Saturday’s events, and it was nice to go around and get no complaints at all. A couple of traders commented that the parasols with the chairs and tables underneath gave shoppers a much-needed place for a cup of tea and a breather, and it was so much better than seeing a wasted space. Some said trade itself wasn't too good, but at the end of the two traditional holiday weeks what can you really expect? So to summarise, a nicely arranged events day, interesting and informative. Let's have another helping.

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July 31st & August 1st. Start of ‘Shoe Town Festival’.
Well, there was a large shoe structure on display, about a couple of metres high. People were invited to bring in their old shoes and add them to the exhibit. There didn't seem to be an overwhelming public response. Other attractions were a variety of artistic craft stalls; how to stencil T-shirts, create pendants, badges, etc. Also a Youth Information stall and an opportunity to do a bit of Wii dancing on a wired mat. On Saturday it was wet, the accent was on food, and one stall giving away free samples had long queues, which was perhaps to be expected.

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July 25th. Battle of Talavera and Army Parade.
The 200th anniversary of the Battle of Talavera and the Military Parade through the town went off very well, and brought a great many people into the town centre to show their support. The event also marked the disbanding of the Northamptonshire Regiment Association. This historic occasion was blessed by good weather and received a good turnout. There was a military display on the bottom of the Market Square. Traders reported no great increase in trade with so many extra people being in town on a Saturday, and it was evident that most people had simply come into to town to see the event and give support, and then depart.

Saturday 18th July had no events, so a peaceful shopping day could be enjoyed by both traders and shoppers browsing the stalls. Oddly enough there seemed to be slightly more people about in the market itself, although the traders spoken to said trade was only average or below average for a summer Saturday. One or two traders said they were having a good day, while one or two others said trade was quiet. We did hear trader concerns about the Superloo, which has been opening late and closing early all this week. The first reports of human fouling in the subway walks near the closed toilets were being discussed; an inevitable result of the Liberal Democrat policy of cutting staff hours in the Superloo. We have heard they intend to close the Superloo entirely in September, so these problems of fouling can only get worse. Under the present Liberal Democrat administration the town centre is slip-sliding away to third world conditions.

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Day of Dance.

Saturday 11th July was billed as a day of dance. People stood around in small groups, watching the varied types of dancers putting on a lively show. Rain stopped the dance area in front of the stage being used at times, and no crowds of any great size came to watch the varied collections of dancers, from about 11 am to early afternoon. Until around 2 PM, when scores and then hundreds of young people arrived for the Flash Mob Northampton zombie dance, a suitable tribute to Michael Jackson. By 2.15 there must have been around a thousand or more people filling more than half the empty space below the market. Apart from the Millennium event, there haven't been crowds like this in the market square since the busy shopping Saturdays in the late 1970's.

The zombie dance started toward the bottom of the square, surrounded by a huge crowd of people. It was clear most people had come to spectate, not join in, so it was difficult to get near enough to actually see anything. As with most Flash events, the zombie dance only lasted 15 - 20 minutes, then the huge crowd rapidly dispersed, much of it going up Abington Street to Abington Square, where another set of the dance was performed, which enabled more people to see what was going on. As with the Flash Mob pillow fight earlier in the year everything ran smoothly and with great good humour. Well done once again, Flash Mob Northampton.
It also proved that you do not need big grant money to arrange events which attract far more people than any paid for event we have had so far. Are you listening Lib-Dem zombies? Tony, Richard, Brian?

It is pleasant to report that we got no complaints about noise from the stage throughout the dancing acts that took place earlier. We spoke to most traders in the front rows, and several reported that the events team were doing a good job in checking and monitoring the noise levels. So full marks to whoever in the events team was personally responsible for this. Let us hope we can continue to have this level of cooperation during future events, to our mutual benefit.

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Greenwash Day.

Friday 10th July was 'Green Britain Day', or Greenwash day. NBC's contribution to this laughable event was a few small stalls showing a curious combination of goods, from cycles to flower drink sampling, a garden centre stall, and one or two other seemingly disconnected features. It certainly looked an extremely pale green affair, and it was financially supported by a French energy company, Electricité de France (EDF), the biggest corporate producer of nuclear waste in the world. EDF even stole the green Union flag from another company, Britain's Ecotricity, who have now taken out a legal case against them. You can read more about the farce here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/jul/02/edf-green-britain-energy

So 'Green Britain Day' was a very pale greenwash by a French nuclear power company trying to appear green! Lovely! Anything does for the market events team, so long as it fills some of the waste space at the bottom of the market square. 

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Nice Emmaus Event, Shame About The Stage Noise! Early July 2009

Friday 3rd July saw Emmaus, a Christian charity for the homeless, giving an exhibition on the empty area of the market square, showing how to redesign your home on the cheap, using mostly recycled materials. This was an interesting show with many useful practical features. Homemade craft and fair trade imported products were also available from a variety of stalls. Terry Waite, President of Emmaus, was also present for an hour or so in the early afternoon. A jovial imposing figure, he chatted awhile with market committee vice-chair Eamonn 'Fitzy' Fitzpatrick. Emmaus have several centres around the country, and help homeless people find a new purpose in life by giving them work and respect and companionship. Their web site is well worth a visit for its inspiring personal stories: http://www.emmaus.org.uk/

So all in all a nice peaceful quiet event, where most of the time people could wander around and look at things without getting sound-blasted from the stage. (Why do they need that stage at every event, by the way? There's absolutely no need to have any music of any kind with something like the Emmaus event; folks like to walk around and chat with people doing things, and it has to be pretty quiet to do that).

Onto this peaceful scene came the well-known Jive Aces, a Scientology jive and swing band, who gave a couple of sets of 1940's 'Swing' music in the afternoon. Half the band seemed to be missing, but they still played well. However, as often happens, the market events team had got the sound levels too high, and we had several complaints from traders in the bottom rows of the market. Some traders appreciated the quality of the band, but were disappointed they played swing instead of more traditional jazz.
For the record, trade seemed to be fairly quiet over most of the market, although fruit and veg seemed to be doing a nice bit of weekend trade.

The following day, Saturday 4th July, again saw Emmaus in evidence with a 'Revamp your wardrobe' event. This showed how to customise your clothes with recycled materials. Again a quiet event for the most part, until later in the afternoon when the catwalk show started, and the sound system was turned up incredibly loud. Some of the lady market traders good-naturedly took part in the show as a bit of fun, and got their share of applause and whistles and catcalls from the crowd that had materialised. The market gals looked every bit as good as the models that were also taking part, and looked more robustly built.
But why so much loud noise? A bit of suitable background music is fine, but there is no need for it to reach beyond the crowd immediately around the stage. Once again the loud music tended to empty the rows and aisles of the market as people hurried down to see what all the noise was about. The crowd that went down to the stage left behind an almost empty market, as always happens on these occasions. So once again traders lost sales and money. Even the traders down the front were doing nothing, and couldn't hear themselves think. One fruit trader complained that his staff had to do mental arithmetic to tot up purchases, and the noise made this almost impossible.

The events team have a lot of misery to answer for. Every one of the twelve traders we spoke to during the time the music was playing said that it was far too loud. We are left wondering 'Why do these events have to be accompanied by music or noises that are really excessively loud?' What are the logical reasons for this? Are there any? 
Why don't the events team care about traders who are losing trade, and modify their events accordingly? Why don't they care about the traders in the bottom rows who are held captives to this torturous din?

Let us be quite clear. Every noisy event takes customers and trade away from the market. So if the events team had interviewed traders after every event over the past three months, as they are supposed to have done, they would by now be crystal-clear about what effects noisy events have upon trade in the market. So we can only conclude that no regular interviews have been undertaken and recorded by the events team, and no evaluation has been done. This would be in direct violation of the terms agreed in the original Market Square Grant Application, Section 12, Evaluation Plan: 12.1, paragraphs 3 & 4; 12.2, paragraph 4; and 12.4. Questions will have to be asked.

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 It Was Hell on the Grid - Noisy Grand Prix Event!  Late June 2009

Traders complained about a very noisy Grand Prix event on the waste space at Northampton Market Square on Saturday 20th June. Traders near the event were driven to distraction by the noise of engines revving, big bikes doing little tours around the market, radio-controlled cars continuously whining shrilly, and the bouts of Grand Prix practice noise coming from the speakers around the large screen.

Traders near the event said the noise levels were far too high, and went on and on for far too long. Traders further away from the din at the bottom of the market said that once again a noisy event had stripped away customers from the market aisles, frightened older people away from the market, and overall had given many traders a very poor day's trading. The only exceptions found were the florists, who both said they were doing reasonably well at the top of the market.

Talking with a variety of traders in different areas of the market, the difference a noisy event makes came across very strongly. Those traders near the Grand Prix event said that it was difficult to hear customers talking, and there was a definite shortage of older customers, presumably kept away from the vicinity by the constant noise. Traders in the middle and toward the top of the market said they weren't seeing nearly so many customers as on normal Saturdays. This was put down to the noise from the Grand Prix event keeping some older people away from the market, and the general tendency for anyone coming into the top of the market to rush through to the event at the bottom, to see what all the noise was about.

So once again a big thumbs-down for the market events organisers, who continue to hold disastrously noisy events which rob the market of trade and cost traders a great deal of money. Don't these people have any conscience about what they're doing? Apparently not, as they've taken no notice so far.

By Contrast - A Well-Organised Armed Forces Day.
Saturday 28th saw the Armed Forces Day, which was one of the few events we have had no complaints about whatsoever. It was not a noisy event, of course. It was well-organised, as one might expect of the Forces, and it was the kind of event people could stroll around at their own pace, looking here and chatting there, and generally quietly enjoying themselves. Most traders spoken to said trade was about average; no great influx of people, but no distracting noise either. Little credit to the events team here, though, as almost every town of any size has an Armed Forces Day, and a Market Square is a natural place to hold it if there's enough room. All credit to the Armed Forces for respecting the situation of holding an exhibition alongside a working market, and working co-operatively to achieve an excellent result. Well done!

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Noisy Events Continue to Disrupt Trade Mid-June 2009

Following on from our round-up of the first two months of 'market square events', which didn't win the Events Team many Brownie points, we're giving here a quick run through of what has taken place since on the 'events' scene, and what effects these events had on trade for Northampton market traders.

The 'Hands on Science' event of Friday 29th May was hardly earth-shattering, but the two little robots 'fighting' each other proved popular with the half-term kids, as did the large 'Titan' robot dancing about. This big robot fooled an awful lot of people who thought he was a real robot, controlled by a guy with an electronic switchboard. But like many other things that get to be called 'events' on our Market Square, he was a sham; there was a guy inside moving him around. Science ain't that wonderful yet, folks.
Nonetheless a spectacular and even awesome sight for those who didn't know. But did it help trade on the market? Afraid not. The 'music' which accompanied these 'science' events was far too loud and intrusive, and once again stallholders near the event could not talk to their customers, if they had any. Traders further away in the middle and top end of the market experienced the usual 'drainage effect' which any noisy event has on the market; people hurry down through the market to see what all the noise is about, instead of quietly browsing around the stalls.

The same thing happened the day after, when the Spratton mini-festival took over the bottom of the Square. Nobody with responsibility seemed to be in charge of the noise levels, and different acts turned up the sound or turned it down according to how they wanted. Some of them wanted it very loud indeed, which killed trade for traders all over the market. We spoke with about 15 traders on each of these events days, some near the event, some further away in the middle of the market, on the main aisle, and near the top. Nobody in the middle was happy with the way the prospective customers were streaming down through the market to the bottom half of the Square, and nobody near the event was happy with the noise coming directly from the event. Noise kills trade, but this doesn't seem to have got through to the Market Square Events Team yet. Or is this a deliberate Lib-Dem plot to kill the market and have the empty square to themselves?

For 5th and 6th of June we had something called Brunomart, a partly French market which almost filled the bottom half of the Square, and at least looked interesting to walk around and explore. But the French did very little trade on the Friday, as prices were so high for Northampton folk. A few punters treated themselves to small quantities at expensive prices. Saturday saw a bit more trade for the French; more people from outside the town seemed to come in to spend a few quid, but this didn't seem to rub off onto our traders except for those near the event, several of whom said they were doing a little better.
Apart from this, most other traders reported a normal Saturday, but better than a noisy event Saturday.

The Carnival came into town on June 13th, so we had probably the biggest crowd in town for some time; mostly parents with kids who wanted to see the Carnival itself. But most of them must have been on the two hours parking ticket, because as soon as the parade passed the bottom of the market they were off, legging it back to the car parks before the time ran out. Very few even saw the 'event' on the bottom of the Square; a sad collection of artists' stalls, mostly lack-lustre with no signs to indicate what they were supposed to be doing, manned by tired-looking girls who sat well inside and seemed not to engage with passers-by. A notable exception was a large triangular hoarding with some expressive graffiti work going on which merited attention. The music for this 'event' was provided by a guy on steel drums near Burger King playing smooth reggae which was not too loud and helped to float the afternoon along.

Traders reported almost average trade around the market, although one couple reported they were having a stinker of a day; average trade is what you get on a dry day when there's no event on, which goes to show that quiet events are better than noisy events, but not better than non-events.

The Market Square Events Team haven’t progressed since our last review below:

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Taking Stock - Two Months After... Late May 2009

Some two months after moving the market and putting on occasional events in the huge empty space thus created, Northampton Borough Council and the Market Square Events Team have at last got around to asking traders what they think so far. Not a lot, as you'd probably expect. The majority of the so-called 'events' have passed by completely unnoticed, unless you happened to be walking through the otherwise empty area of the square when they were taking place. Some of them cannot justifiably be called an 'event' in any case. Some have simply been commercial presentations, advertising well-known brands of this and that. Not really an 'event', even for a one-public-lavatory town run by Liberal Democrats.

While we are on the subject of asking traders what they think, perhaps we should remind Northampton Borough Council (NBC) that under the terms of their grant application for the £1 Million plus they were given to mess around with the Market Square, they are supposed to consult and interview after each event not only market traders but also town centre shopkeepers, restaurant managers, and publicans on how the event affected their trade. Have they done this? No, apart from the recent form to traders, there is no evidence to suggest they have done anything at all in this direction, and at this year's Market Traders' Annual General Meeting Cllr Richard Church, Portfolio-Holder for Town Centre Regeneration, was given an highlighted copy of his own application form to show him how the terms under which he had got his grant had not been complied with.

So far we have not had any event on this huge empty space that could not have been comfortably fitted into the previous 'events area' triangle. So far the Liberal Democrats have not justified moving the market, nor are they likely to. So far we have lost several well-known and respected traders, including a mobile phone merchant they didn't have enough room for, and two long-standing traders of 18 and 27 years on Northampton Market. One of these, Games Machine, had a unique line that we have now lost. See 'Games Machine'.

Several traders have had to be moved because they were put in cramped positions in the 'dead zone' of the mini-aisle, and threatened to leave unless they were placed somewhere the public could find them. The meat and fish vans have been hidden away up the west side of the market with stalls all clustered closely around them, instead of being boldly displayed further down on the edge of the huge empty area where people could see them at a distance. They report that their trade has been down by at least a third since the move has shut them off from public view. Traders generally report a loss of trade of between one-third and one-half of what they took before the market was moved, and even after two months we get people wandering up and down looking for stall-holders who have been displaced.
 

Regarding displacement, no steps have been taken so far by NBC and their Market Office to provide any help to the public who have to look for and find traders who may have been moved anywhere. NBC told the last Market Traders' Committee that they would be providing maps for us all showing where everyone was, that we could give out to customers; and they said they would provide large maps of the market stalls layout on the new notice-boards, showing where everyone was. So far they have done none of this, and it’s been two months, and counting...

So to summarise, after two months it's a sad story of a huge empty waste space on most days, relieved only occasionally with 'events', some of which are laughable and bring nobody into town; with long-standing traders of good reputation leaving the market, and a string of broken promises to the traders who are left. One feels that if they were deliberately trying to finish off the market they couldn't do it a lot better. Will the market hold out for two more years until the Liberal Democrats are crucified in the Borough Council elections, and hopefully someone more sensible takes over?

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Quieter May 2nd Folk Scene goes down better with traders and public

After the last big disastrous market event on April 11th - see Events Archive - traders were wondering what to expect from this one. (At the previous April 11th event the market events team had refused to turn the high sound volume down, despite the protests of suffering market traders, some of whom had an incredibly bad day as people avoided the noisy market). But this time the Market Square Events Team actually came around and talked with traders about noise levels before the event took off, and this meant a big improvement in the way the event was run.

Of the traders spoken with, almost all of them who were standing in the bottom rows of the market said the music was set at a reasonable level; we had only one complaint that it was too loud. One lady trader said she was pleased the events team had consulted with the traders about the noise levels, and hoped this would become a regular feature of events which involved music. The folk music itself drew praise, as several traders thought it blended in nicely with the market atmosphere, giving a pleasant background ambience. People were stopping to look at gear and even shop, instead of being frightened away. So well done folk band Asha, who helped to make it a pleasant afternoon. (They even had a few people dancing at one point, cold sober in Northampton, on a Saturday afternoon. Now that is something).

The rest of the event consisted of a handful of interesting craft stalls where you could join in by learning how to do or make something; but some of these stalls were very badly placed, so they blocked off front row demountable stalls in the middle of the row. It was a bit obvious that nobody with years of market experience had set this lot out; you didn't need to be an ex-Toby to see that.

Some traders nearer the event, which was held on the area at the bottom west side of the Square, said they were doing about average for a Northampton Bank Holiday Saturday, and one or two even said they were doing a little better. Of those anywhere near the event, only three stated they were doing worse than usual.

The middle of the market, particularly over on the mini-aisle eastern side, was rather a different story. Traders here weren't doing so well, and felt that people hearing the music were hurrying through without pausing to look, intent on getting down to the event. Considering how many stalls in this area were standing empty, this wasn't surprising. The
Liberal-Democrat policy of 'No spreading' means you can't even hang a garment out into an empty stall next door, let alone set up a table. So whereas before some of the emptiness used to be concealed a bit, now it's laid bare for all to see as they hurry past.

Traders up the main aisle were faring a bit better on average, and at least two said they were doing reasonable trade 'Considering the recession'; although one main aisle trader said he was having a bad day, and that he found most Saturdays were poor now when the high rents were taken into consideration.

So, a very mixed bag. Of twenty traders exactly half said they were doing poorly or below average, while exactly half said they were doing about average or even a little better. A lot seemed to depend on where you happened to be standing, and of course what sort of gear you had. One thing everyone seemed to agree on was that there were no more shoppers about than usual for a Saturday, but certainly lots more than there had been at the noisy April 11th event. Let's hope the market events team take note, and can use this information toward planning future events.

One curiosity of the afternoon was Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Brendan Glynane, who could be seen haunting the bottom half of the Square like a lofty desperate ghost, dodging about and sporting last month’s copy of Market Trader magazine, from which he showed passers-by a picture of himself and Richard Church posing with Fitzy on the morning of the disastrous April 11th event. (The picture was taken before Fitzy had his worst Bank Holiday Saturday ever, of course). How sad for the Northampton Liberal Democrat Party.

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Worst Saturday Ever! Traders record worst Saturday ever at Liberal Democrat Event!

Northampton Market Traders had a very bad day on Easter Saturday 11th April, when the first Liberal Democrat arranged event took place on the bottom half of the Market Square, recently cleared of market traders by Lib-Dem plans to revamp the Marketplace.

Of seventeen traders spoken to at random, all said they were having a very poor trading day due to the raucous event at the bottom of the square; some said that it was their worst Saturday ever. Only one trader said he was pleased to see the event, but admitted that it wasn't doing his business any good. Some fruit and veg. traders were near to tears; they had stocked up for a busy Easter Saturday, usually a good day in the trade, and now found they had very few customers.

Talking with traders, the concensus of opinion seemed to be that the very loud music put off older customers, attracted many people away from the market stalls and down onto the bottom area where they stayed watching the stage, and frightened off regular shoppers entirely.

There is no doubt that the music was far too loud, and that no thought had been given to the fact that there was a market involving buyers and sellers taking place not far away. Those who put on the event apparently felt that the louder it was, the better it was. In actual fact, as any discerning person knows, quite the opposite is the case. A good event does not need to be loud; a poor event has to be loud to try to attract people.

Some traders along the bottom rows of the market said it was almost impossible to communicate with what few customers they had due to the raucous din. No traders had been consulted about the noise level, not even those closest to the stage; neither had any traders' representatives been consulted.

Several prominent Liberal Democrat Cabinet members could be seen swanning about amid the din, preening themselves like turkeys who are as yet unaware of Christmas. Amongst them Woods, carrying all before him yet still managing to scowl; Church, blinking nervously like a man who has rejected massive public opinion; and Glynane, biggest bullshipper of them all, trying to tell anyone who would listen what a fine success it was. The market traders' representatives, both of the present and previous committees, have always pointed out that some kinds of event are bad for trade. These are the noisy events which are best held in the evenings, when shopkeepers and traders have packed away and gone home.
The so-called 'St Crispin Fair' is a good example. Only the catering trade did any good out of it; for most traders it might be the worst weekend of the year. Ask any trader, any shopkeeper. Although many people came into town to see the event, they were not shoppers. They were event-goers, a completely different animal.

NBC have been told by the traders countless times that if you wish to attract shoppers into town, you must provide free parking; and you must put on a decent shopping event. This way you attract shoppers, people who are looking for a bargain, people who have money to spend. These people don't come in to watch a noisy event, they come in to shop. As we have told Cllr Richard “The market is paramount”Church on several occasions: These are the ones with the bags, Richard.

If it is the purpose of the Liberal Democrats to cram all of the market traders into the top half of the Market Square while events are held in the bottom half which further rob them of trade, then by these Liberal Democrat standards Saturday's event was an unqualified success. If they held an event like this every week the market would not last a year. It is some relief that they do not have unlimited access to public money, and an even greater relief that in two years time they will be voted out of office.