First Food and Artisan Fayre is cracking success

Date published: 06 May 2021

After months of lockdown, the first Food and Artisan Fayre of the year proved to be a resounding success for all on Saturday (1 May).

Droves of excited shoppers visited Rochdale town centre, eager to hit the stores and peruse artisan delicacies and independent arts and crafts on offer for the first time in months.

High quality and original goods were available from the likes of Pextenement Organic Cheese, Tiffany's Bakery, Kandy Kitchen Creations, Reedy's Natural Relishes and Preserves, meat and eggs from Bank Top Farm, The Manchester Soap Company, and fresh fruit and vegetables by EGS Services.

Found throughout Riverside Walk, the monthly market supports local businesses and independent makers, with a range of stalls serving up fabulous locally produced and sustainable goods.

With the refreshing and dulcet tones of the Flat Cap 3 accompanying the long-awaited fayre, Rochdale town centre certainly showed a promising start to recovery after the pandemic.

Paul Ambrose, Business Improvement District Manager, said: “This type of high quality destination event is exactly what the town needs as we welcome back shoppers and visitors.

“The feedback from the shoppers was very positive and I encourage consumers to keep on shopping local within the town centre.

“Small businesses, like those found at the Food and Artisan Fayre, are the beating heart of communities and they will be at the centre of the recovery so please do what you can to support our local small businesses.”

Lisa Reedy, organiser of the fayre, enthused: “What a cracking first Food and Artisans Fayre of 2021!

“We all so enjoyed being back at the Riverside chatting and selling to customers, old and new. Thank you so much for coming down and supporting our event; it’s so appreciated.

“We really hope you enjoyed the great quality of our food and craft products too. We’ve some more lovely small local businesses joining our lovely team soon, all different and all made by the people you talk to. Special thanks go to Rachel Byrne and her team at the Riverside development and the team from Rochdale BID for making us so welcome and working so hard to help make this event so successful. See you on Saturday 5 June.”

Karen Turner, from Kandy Kitchen Creations, said: “Saturday was a brilliant day.

“Throughout the day, footfall remained strong and the feedback we received from shoppers that they were delighted to be back in the town centre and they were really impressed with the goods on offer.

“We can’t wait to return to the fayre next month and we encourage as many local people as possible to pop down.”

Rachel Byrne, Centre Manager at Rochdale Riverside, added: “‘We were delighted to host the return of the Food and Artisan Fayre and it is the ideal platform to welcome back shoppers to the town centre.

“Visitors to the fayre commented that they were impressed with the range of artisan goods and they look forward to returning next month.”

The next Food and Artisan Fayre will take place on Saturday 5 June, Riverside Walk.