Love Your Local Market 2026 has got off to a brilliant start, with markets across the UK showing exactly why they remain at the heart of local communities.
Week One has been full of colour, creativity, trader pride, family fun, food, heritage, young entrepreneurs, civic support, and brilliant market-day moments. From long-standing traders and historic market halls to new business ideas, live entertainment, workshops, food festivals and selfie frames, the campaign has already shown the huge range and energy of the markets sector.
Now in its 15th year, Love Your Local Market is once again giving markets a national platform to shout about what they do best. With small traders continuing to face real pressures, visibility matters more than ever.
The campaign has also been backed by MPs and civic leaders, with a standout moment from Julia Buckley MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Local Markets, showing her support for Love Your Local Market outside Parliament.
And the message from Week One is clear: Love Your Local Market is not just about special events. It is about celebrating the everyday markets, traders and communities that make towns, cities and neighbourhoods stronger.
The first week of #LYLM2026 has shown markets at their best – busy, welcoming, creative and rooted in community.
Greenwich Market created one of the standout visual moments of the campaign with its giant “I love GM” floral market bag, campaign bunting and photo-friendly LYLM branding. Bury Market used the official LYLM selfie frame with stallholders across the market, while Bolton Markets brought the campaign to life with a large heart frame, fresh produce and proud trader photos.
Widnes Market has been spreading the campaign message with its LYLM heart mascot and family activity, Ludlow Market has shared strong “Proudly Ludlow” trader graphics, and Ormskirk Market has embraced campaign signage, photo frames, trader images and family fun.
Across the country, markets have taken the national campaign and made it their own.
One of the strongest themes from Week One has been the focus on real traders and the people behind the stalls.
Chesterfield Market highlighted Russell Keeble and more than 30 years of homemade cakes and pastries. Wetherby Markets shared stories of long-standing traders, including Sue and her family business, John “The Drizzle King”, Simon the vacuum specialist, Michelle the florist, and Melanie from The Sweet Feast Shack.
Barrow Market spotlighted Lynne’s Menswear and Tuk’s Thai Foods, while Bradford Markets has run a strong trader spotlight series across Shipley, Darley Street, Keighley and St James Wholesale Market. Portsmouth shared the remarkable story of G W Warren & Sons, a fourth-generation greengrocer family business that has been trading since 1919.
There have been brilliant human stories from Sandbach Market, Coventry Market, Redditch Market, Wellington Market, Norwich Market, Alfreton Indoor Market, Barnstaple Pannier Market, Cambridge Market, Oxford Covered Market, Wandsworth Markets and Tŷ Pawb in Wrexham.
This is what makes markets different. The people. The conversations. The knowledge. The families. The characters. The businesses built one customer at a time.
Week One has also shown how markets continue to support the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Bradford Markets showcased a Young Traders Market at Darley Street Market Courtyard, with young businesses selling bakes, matcha, prints, jewellery, scrunchies, drinks and handmade products. The Next Gen Youth Market at Hackney’s Ridley Road highlighted Faith, founder of Fatcha London, with iced matcha lattes and white chocolate matcha cookies.
Chelmsford Retail Market promoted its Young Traders regional heat, Warrington Market hosted a Young Traders’ Market on the mezzanine, and Colchester Market promoted the return of BusinessKids at St Nicholas Square.
Bromsgrove, Wakefield District Markets, Swansea Market, Buckinghamshire Council, Aylesbury, High Wycombe, and Stratford-upon-Avon have all helped demonstrate how markets can be low-cost, high-energy launchpads for young traders, student enterprise, and new business ideas.
At Stratford-upon-Avon, the Cupcake Valley team from Stratford upon Avon School sold almost all of their 230 cupcakes and raised more than £450 for the British Heart Foundation – a brilliant example of confidence, enterprise and community spirit coming together on a market stall.
Food has been everywhere in Week One, and markets have reminded people why a market day is such a good day out.
Market Drayton Markets put the spotlight on Nick Jay’s cakes, including red velvet, apple cinnamon, raspberry almond coconut cakes, brownies and giant scones. Norwich Market shared a run of food and drink trader stories, from And Eat It and Doughpe Norwich to Mike Debs & Sons and the market’s fresh produce heritage.
Shrewsbury Market Hall has shown how markets can support food, drink and the evening economy, with cafes, bars, street food, live music, demonstrations and late-night opening. Bolton Market Food Hall has celebrated food and drink from around the world, while Leeds Markets featured Bluebird Bakery, The Cupcake Florist and Obleas.
There have been strong food stories from Bradford Markets, Darlington Market, Hitchin Market, Romford Market, West Malling Farmers Market, Driffield Thursday Market, Ludlow Market, Ellesmere Market Hall, Cambridge Market, Skirlington Market & Car Boot, FEAST and Dunstable’s Bites on The Square.
From fresh fish, fruit and veg to cakes, curry, street food, coffee, pies, flowers, ice cream and global produce, Week One has shown how markets feed communities in every sense.
Markets have not just been trading. They have been entertaining, educating and creating reasons for people to come into town.
Oldham Market brought smiles with family activity days, Chaddy the Owl, face painting, singing vegetables, balloon modelling and selfie frames. Ormskirk Market promoted free family fun, the Gingerbread Trail, gingerbread decorating, busy stalls, sunny streets and street entertainment from The Bread and Butter Theatre Company.
Dunstable’s Bites on The Square included street food, arts and crafts, glitter tattoos and family activities. Sevenoaks Markets promoted free rock painting and live music, while Widnes Market hosted Story Sense storytelling sessions during half term.
Ellesmere Market Hall brought together crafts, outdoor activities, workshops, angling talks, bicycle maintenance, stained-glass demonstrations, and specialist traders. Shrewsbury Market Hall delivered a packed programme including jewellery demonstrations, floristry, wine tasting, gin sampling, food demos, interactive art bunting and late-night trading.
There have been live broadcasts from Norwich Market, music while you shop at Shirehampton Markets, jazz and dancing crowds, community crafts at Wigan Market Hall, creative activity in Leeds, a Makers Market at Halifax Borough Market and a recycled bunting project in Widnes.
This is the campaign that shows markets as social and cultural spaces, and as places where people gather.
Love Your Local Market has always celebrated the past, present and future of markets, and Week One has done exactly that.
Durham Markets marked its 175th anniversary with a “Through the Decades” Weekender featuring live music, performers, family activities, market history, and a community celebration. Ellesmere Market Hall celebrated Charter Market Day and a market “born in 1221”, while Ormskirk Market highlighted heritage dating back to 1286.
Newcastle-under-Lyme Markets shared its historic charter roots, Bromsgrove used archive footage from the 1994 redevelopment period, and Norfolk Record Office shared a 1950s image of Norwich Market Place.
At the same time, the campaign has been full of new traders, digital storytelling, night markets, food halls, creative hubs, eco-friendly delivery and young entrepreneurs.
That is the strength of markets. History and future trading side by side.
Week One has also shown the importance of visible support from MPs, councillors, councils, BIDs and local leaders.
A brilliant national moment for the campaign came from Julia Buckley MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Markets, who showed her support for Love Your Local Market outside Parliament with the campaign’s PROUDLY LOCAL. message.
It was a powerful reminder that markets are not just local assets. They are part of a national story about small businesses, town centres, community pride and local enterprise.
That support matters. When MPs and civic leaders visit their local markets, meet traders, share posts and use #LYLM2026, they help shine a spotlight on the small businesses and community spaces that make markets so important.
Across the first week of the campaign, we have seen MPs, MSs, councillors, councils and local organisations recognising the value of markets in their areas. Andrew Ranger MP celebrated Wrexham markets, including Tŷ Pawb, Butchers Market, General Market, Artisan Market, Night Market, The Hive Wrecsam and the Victorian Christmas Market. Sam Rowlands MS supported Wrexham’s market heritage and local traders, while James Naish MP promoted local makers and street food markets.
Oxford City Council supported activity at The Covered Market, Oxford. West Lancashire Borough Council promoted Ormskirk Market’s family fun and heritage. Sevenoaks Town Council, Neath Port Talbot Council, Wandsworth Council Business Team, Portsmouth Economic Development & Skills, Buckinghamshire Council, InColchester BID and Love Wellington have all helped show the value of markets to local places.
Markets support small businesses, bring people into town centres and high streets, provide affordable routes into trading and create places where communities connect.
That is why political and civic support is so important – not just during Love Your Local Market, but throughout the year.
Week One has also shown that Love Your Local Market is not just about one type of market.
There have been indoor markets, outdoor markets, food halls, wholesale markets, farmers markets, craft markets, youth markets, night markets, car boot markets, heritage markets, community markets and creative market spaces.
St James Wholesale Market in Bradford and Wholesale Market Liverpool have shown the importance of wholesale trading. Tŷ Pawb has shown how markets and creative culture can work together. Derby Market Hall, Shrewsbury Market Hall, Barnstaple Pannier Market, Neath Indoor Market, Cambridge Market, Bury Market and Bolton Market Food Hall have all shown the strength of covered and indoor markets.
Romford Market, Leicester Market, Abergavenny Market, Ludlow Market, Shambles Market, York and Skirlington Market have all brought different parts of the sector into the campaign story.
This is why Love Your Local Market matters. It gives the whole sector a shared moment to be seen, heard and celebrated.
Love Your Local Market 2026 is proud to be supported by Andy Thornton Ltd as the official campaign sponsor.
Andy Thornton works with markets, food halls, hospitality, leisure and retail spaces across the UK, helping create practical, distinctive places where businesses can thrive, and communities can come together. Their support for this year’s campaign reflects the role markets continue to play as vibrant trading, social and community spaces.
We are also very grateful to G M Imber & Sons Ltd for supporting new starter traders during LYLM 2026 by providing free public liability insurance for eligible new traders taking part in the campaign.
That support matters because one of the strongest messages from Week One has been the importance of markets as launchpads for new businesses. From young trader events and school enterprise projects to start-ups testing ideas on a stall for the first time, markets offer a real opportunity to begin trading, build confidence, and grow.
Thank you to Andy Thornton Ltd and G M Imber & Sons Ltd for helping Love Your Local Market 2026 celebrate existing traders while also supporting the next generation coming through.
Week One has made a big noise for markets across the UK. Now, Week Two is the chance to make it even louder.
Markets are encouraged to keep posting, keep sharing and keep showing the country what makes them special.
Share trader spotlights. Celebrate long-standing businesses. Introduce new traders. Show young entrepreneurs. Post food, flowers, fresh produce, fashion, crafts and market day moments. Use selfie frames, bunting, signs and campaign graphics. Share short videos. Ask traders why they love their market. Encourage councils, MPs, mayors and BIDs to get involved. Show the everyday reasons people should visit.
And most importantly, tag Love Your Local Market and use #LYLM2026 so the campaign can see, share and celebrate your activity.
Markets can also add themselves to the LYLM map so visitors can find them and see how many markets are taking part across the UK: https://loveyourlocalmarket.nabma.com/map/https://loveyourlocalmarket.nabma.com/map/
Free social media resources, campaign graphics, branding guidance and Canva and Adobe Express templates are available here: https://loveyourlocalmarket.nabma.com/resources/
You do not need to be running a special event or promotion to join in. A regular market day, a trader story, a great food photo, a busy stall, a customer moment or a short video can all help show why your market matters.
Week One has shown markets at their best – proud, creative, local, practical, historic, modern, social and full of life.
Now let’s keep going.
Tag us. Use #LYLM2026. Add your market to the map. Download the resources. Share your stories.
PROUDLY LOCAL.
MAKE IT A MARKET DAY.
