By Katie and Val
2024 is a very special year for the Orwell Pannier Market – it’s our 20th Anniversary!
This makes us the oldest monthly village market in South Cambridgeshire (see SCDCs VisitSouthCambs website).
It all started back in 2004 when 3 local residents, on holiday in Devon, saw villagers selling surplus produce from pannier baskets. What a brilliant idea they thought, and once home they found others with surplus produce and booked the small pavilion on Orwell’s Recreation Ground.
This monthly event soon outgrew the venue, and we relocated to our Methodist Schoolroom where, even then, there were stalls outside! But in time an even bigger venue was clearly needed as new stallholders continued to join us. So we transferred to Orwell Village Hall.
Now, 20 years on, we regularly host 25+ stalls, and are still amazed at the market’s success.
Our social media sites got upgraded, thanks to one of our younger stallholders, and our Facebook page has grown dramatically as a result.
SCDC asked us – why has your market survived when others have fallen? And why, every month, do new stallholders still ask to join you?
Well our community is very much at the heart of our market. Unlike others, we’re not fundraising, so our stallholders still pay a minimum fee. And we always try to avoid stalls competing, preferring instead to offer as wide a range of stalls as possible.
Any profit supports our village in many different ways. Even our tearoom is run every month by a different village club who take all the profit, which in turn helps them.
We were recently asked to address a youth project in South Cambs Hall, which went really well and the students asked some great questions. We hope to continue working with them in the future.
But really our success is thanks to our loyal customers who continually support us and help create such a joyous atmosphere every month.
Thank you all – so very much.
Orwell Pannier Market, Orwell Village Hall SG8 5QN
Markets held on the first Saturday of the month, 10am – 12noon
Find us on Facebook: orwellpanniermarket
