Despite the damp and dreary weather The Guild Dumfries have hailed their inaugural Dumfries Market Festival on Saturday 14th March, as a great success. Larger than expected crowds turned up to show their support for the new monthly town centre community event, showcasing talented artists, makers, creatives and food and beverage producers from the region and beyond. Visitors also enjoyed a superb lineup of entertainment, live music, workshops & fun for all the family, provided by local community groups, musicians and bands.
Over 20 stalls took part in the launch event at Queensberry Square and Fountain Square encouraging the “Shop Local” message, and revellers danced their blues away to music from local bands Boneshaker, Ukefrolics, Samba Sisters and Dumfries Community Choir plus solo performances by Diane Little-Moss and talented teen, Rory Buglass.
The crowds were also treated to spectacular gymnastics displays by Y-Gymnastics, musical theatre with songs from Annie Jr plus dynamic dance routines from Razzamataz Theatre School.
“We are delighted with the turnout and the reaction from the community has been overwhelmingly positive” says The Guild Dumfries Director, Leah Halliday. “It gives the community a taste of what they can expect on a monthly basis from Dumfries Market Festival. We hope that the event will become a date for the diary and something that the whole region will look forward to.” The Guild would love to hear your thoughts on the Dumfries Market Festival launch, so they have produced an online survey for visitors to leave their feedback, comments and suggestions. Please follow the link to take part http://bit.ly/dumfriesmarketfestivalsurvey
“It’s vitally important to us to tailor our events to the needs of our community” Leah goes on to say.
“As a not-for-profit social enterprise, The Guild’s mission is to put the profits back into the company to further benefit the community. We hope that this community market festival will encourage locals and all members of the community to come together and celebrate the very best the region has to offer.”
Director Kirsten Scott added, “Just imagine how amazing this event will be with better weather and without the threat of a global pandemic hanging over us all! We wish to extend a huge thank you to all our marvellous volunteers, traders, partners and performers for being part of this incredible community event, and to everyone who has supported us. We are eternally grateful”.
The Dumfries Market Festival is scheduled for the 2nd Saturday of every month between March to November, however, after the Government announcement on Monday evening advising that 'everyone should avoid social contact and non-essential travel' The Guild say it would be “careless” for them to continue with their plans for Dumfries Market Festival for the time being.
Director Natalie Farrell says, “The health and wellbeing of our community is our number one priority, therefore we are taking immediate steps to postpone the festivals until further notice. We will, of course, monitor the situation daily and hope to resume normal operations as soon as is appropriate.”
Follow The Guild social media channels for more information regarding future events or sign up to their mailing list to keep in touch.
Application criteria, terms and conditions and application forms can be found at https://www.theguilddumfries.org/pages/dumfries-market-festival
