Hi Jonathan

I am local artist who sold at the Northcote Road Christmas Market in November 2015. Despite the weather (!!) I really enjoyed the Saturday however last year I couldn't find out any information regarding who the organisers were to contact to book a stand for November 2016 as they had changed from the previous year. Do you know when the market will be in 2017 and who the best people are to contact regarding booking a stand? I appreciate it's a long way off however I don't want to book a clashing event. I also appreciate you may no longer be involved but if you can point me in the right direction that would be a huge help.

Thank you in advance.

Good morning all,

I just thought that I would write a note to say a massive thank you to all the local shops who have offered to supply power for the stalls this weekend. One of the biggest logistical challenges we have with the winter event is how to ensure that the market traders can continue to operate once the sun goes down. Portable generators would be an option, but are expensive and unreliable so instead I contacted many local shops last week to ask if they would be willing to allow us to plug in extension leads and provide working lights to the stalls.

I have to say that the response was overwhelming. A huge thank you to all concerned, including Sea Fare who are opening specially on Sunday, Tamra (Rob, you're an absolute legend), Brew café, Turquoise, Alessandro at Pintus, Marzio at Osteria, Austin Thorogood, Al Gusto and of course all the girls at Hamptons who have given up their time to do the grotto on Friday and steward on Sunday. There are numerous others who have all made this possible so apologies if I have left you out, but a huge thank nevertheless.

Last of all, thank you to all of our sponsors, Glow Dental, KFH, Neal's Yard, Estbury Basements and Brew, our media partner Annabel at Nappyvalleynet and print guru Richard at Essential Local. Without you all none of this would be able to happen.

Fingers crossed for a dry weekend...!!!

Many thanks once again,

Joanthan

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Good morning everyone,

I am so sorry for any confusion following my post on 6th October and thanks to Annabel for your post on Thursday.

The Hamptons elves have been working tirelessly over the last few months putting everything together, and we are now pretty much there on the organisation front.

As Annabel says, the switch-on itself will happen on [b][u]FRIDAY [/u][/b]25th November (so in just under two weeks). It will follow the same formula as the last couple of years with Belleville, Honeywell and the Bolingbroke Academy all providing carol singers from around 4.30. The switch-on will happen at around 5pm on the corner of Bennerley Road and Northcote Road and as usual many of the shops will be staying open late, for example John Thorogood will be raising money for Trinity Hospice with mulled wine/mince pies for Adults and hot chocolate/marshmallows for kids, whilst Santa will also be in his grotto at Hamptons International from 4pm until 7pm.

On [u][b]SUNDAY [/b][/u]27th November there will be a Christmas market along the length of Northcote Road with around 60 stalls filled with crafts, jewellery, festive goodies and a food & drink section outside Hamptons (so I certainly won't be going hungry!!).

Sadly the take-up for the Christmas trees was just not there this year. I usually order around 100 trees but this year I had just 30 offers of sponsorship. Almost all of the independents and smaller chains offered to sponsor the trees but the reality is that it is almost impossible to get the bigger chains to contribute as it's rare that we can find the contact details for the people who actually make the decisions. This is a real shame but I will try again next year so fingers crossed.

I hope that all helps, and please do make the effort to come out on both the Friday and Sunday - it's always great to see so many familiar faces coming back from the summer event and we really do have some fantastic goodies on offer this year.

Jonathan

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Hopefully this will help!

The Xmas lights switch on is on Friday 25th and the evening event takes place between 4.30 and 7.30. I will add the exact Xmas lights switch on time when confirmed.

Lots of the shops will stay open a little later and I'm sure many will be offering mulled wine, balloons etc ...

Santa will also be in his grotto at Hamptons International.

The Xmas Fair - extensive street stalls / xmas market etc will take place on Sunday 27th between 10 am and 5 pm. Perfect opportunity to do your Xmas shopping locally!

Will update with more info as we receive it.

Hope that helps with any confusion

A x

And what time is the lights switch on event happening on the Friday?

Yes.. don't understand either!!

Is it Christmas lights on the 25th November and Christmas fair stalls on the 27th??

Your post is very confusing, can you confirm the exact date for each event?

Good morning everyone,

I’m delighted to say that the Northcote Road Christmas event planning is well under way and so I thought I would give you all an update.

In the past the Christmas event has definitely been a diary entry for many of us. For the last 6 years Northcote Road has had a Christmas lights switch-on ceremony on the last weekend of November which has quite a following – carol singers from three local schools parade down the pavements, congregating together to sing a few carols all together before the lights are switched on, and many of the local shops and businesses open late and have special offers, arrange mulled wine, Santa’s grotto, visiting reindeers and so on. It has definitely become an event in itself. For the last three years we have followed this with a shopping event the next day. Last year we expanded the market to include Webbs Road which to be honest was not without issues – the weather was terrible, the stalls were too spread out and generally it was all a bit fragmented.

This year we are reverting to the format of 2013 and 2014 – fully covered stalls positioned in the parking bays facing the pavements, trading for the duration of Sunday 27th November (we have changed the market day from Saturday to Sunday to make it easier for stall holders and visitors to park).

We currently have around 50 stalls, plus the usual Sunday traders, so it will certainly be a busy day. Do please put the Friday and the Sunday in your diaries and we very much look forward to seeing you.

All the very best

Jonathan

PS we are still looking for sponsors for the two events so if any of you know anyone who would like to put their name behind the events we would be very happy to speak to them…!!!