Having seen unprecedented support for its 2022 series of Street Food events and seasonal markets in the High Street, the partnership between Stone Traders’ Group and Stone Food & Drink Festival team has even more events planned for 2023.
Over the course of the year, Stone High Street will host no less than nine themed ‘Sunday Series’ events and six Street Food sessions. Spokesperson for Stone Traders Group, Ed Stant, comments:
“The events we ran in 2022 were a huge success – they really helped bring visitors into the High Street and bolstered town centre trade, so our members were keen that we run even more events in 2023. We are delighted that Stone Town Council have been so supportive of the programme we proposed and we look forward to seeing the town centre bustling regularly.”
Chairman of the Stone Food & Drink Festival, Richard Stevens, said:
“It’s fantastic to be working on such a packed calendar of events with Stone Traders’ Group – our aim as a festival has always been to support the town and its traders, so it was great to see so much support for the markets and street food events last year. Stone High Street really comes alive when lined with market stalls – it has always been, after all, a market town, so alongside the council markets and the ever-popular Stone Farmers’ Market, these events should help keep visitors coming to Stone year-round.”
The first of the Sunday Series events is set to take place on 16th April, with a ‘Spring Awakening Market’ featuring a good mix of craft, food and gift stalls. On 21st May the ‘Four Wheel Fest’ will see a display of cars, tractors, buses and other vehicles, while on 18th June there will be a Cheese & Wine Festival. In July rather than a Sunday market there will be a one-day Food & Drink Festival Edition Town Market on Saturday 15th to support the annual Stone Food & Drink Festival, which is taking place a shuttle bus ride from the town centre at Kibblestone Scout Camp over the weekend.
On Sunday 20th August the town centre will play host to a Family Dance Festival; on 17th September there will be a market focused on Eco Friendly & Sustainable stalls, and on 15th October the flavours of the season will be celebrated with a Sausage & Cider Festival. The series will round off with the return of the popular Christmas Markets on 19th November and 20th December.
In addition to these events, the popular Stone Street Food event will return – lining the High Street with stalls offering a delicious range of globally-inspired treats. They will run from 3-9pm in the High Street on Thursday 18th May, 15th June, 20th July, 17th August, 21st September and 19th October.
All these events are free to attend and jointly organised by Stone Traders’ Group and the Stone Food and Drink Festival; kindly supported by Stone Town Council.
