As part of the Hexham Spring Festival on Saturday 23 April 2019 the NFU will bring British farming into the heart of the town.  They will be taking over a large chunk of the Sele park by the band stand and will be bringing a variety of famer animals such as pigs, sheep and lambs and chick as well as some of the crops grown in the UK.  Therre will be plenty to see and do.

Hexham Farmers’ Market which is also on, is also about the great products from the UK and indeed from our part of it.  You’ll find beef reared on the hills around Bewcastle, milk and cheese from Ayrshire cattle grazing near Gilsland, pork from Middle White pigs from just outside Gateshead and flour milled from grains grown in Northumberland used in the bread.  The organic fruit and veg come from just south of Barnard Castle in County Durham and fruit in jams and chutneys grown in local allotments and gardens.  Even the wool in some of the garments comes from sheep which have grazed ine hills iof the North Tyne Valley.

By supporting the stallholders at Hexham Farmers’ Market and by buying British produce in general, you support your local economy and build stringer relationships between farmers, food producers and customers.

The Hexham Spring Fair also offers a range of other entertainment such as family bushcraft, music, wood craft activities, facepainting and Morris dancing on the Abbey Flags.  The festival runs between 9am and 4.30pm, Hexham Farmers’ Market between 9am and 3pm.

Our hamper draw for customers to the farmers’ market on Saturday 13 April 2019 had a local winner: Sue Reed from near Bardon Mill. One of Sue’s tickets was first out the box at the draw at about quarter to one on Saturday.  Sue used to trade at the market as the Woolly Pedlar and she was delighted to receive her farmers’ market goodies.

Our prize draw proved to be a real success with hundreds of tickets going into the draw and many customers being amazed that the the entry was free to anyone buying at the market on the day.  Hexham Farmers’ Market producers were very happy to contribute as a way of saying ‘thank you’ to all the customers who support the market through all weathers. Many of them have been coming for years and we even spoke to someone who came to the very first one in 1999!

We are looking to do a similar activity sometime during the summer, so keep your eye on the website and on our social media.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hexham Farmers’ Market in 2019, producers at the market on Saturday 13 April will be clubbing together to make a hamper of lovely farmers’ market goodies as a prize for one lucky customer on the day.

Customers will be giving an entry to the prize draw with every purchase at the market until about 12.30 and the winning ticket from the draw will receive the hamper.  The draw will be made at about 12.45 pm and the winner will be notified by phone that afternoon.

Producers at the market are all based within 50 miles of Hexham and primary producers, like Bluebell Organics with their organic veg, Northumberland Poultry or Askerton Castle Estate with their range or beef, lamb and pork, will have grown or reared the products they sell. Secondary producers like Murphy’s Kitchen with their pies or Northumbria Preserves with their jams and chutneys, will use ingredients that have also been reared or grown in the the region.  You can be assured of the provenance and quality of the foods they sell.

The flyer with the new dates for Hexham Farmers’ Market between now and early October will also be available at the market.

We will have a slightly bijou market with 15 producers coming to the market.

We delighted to welcome back Malcolm Dearmer from TOC Aromatherapy and his fabulous soaps and other skincare products.  Bluebell Organics, our organic vegetable producers will also be back at the market.

Unfortunately we will be missing regulars Northumberland Poultry and North Shore Patisserie.  Ellie from North Shore has asked us to pass on her apologies for missing this market due to a family illness.  She’ll be back with us on 13 and 27 April.

Remember, we also have Deni Riach doing creative crafty activities aimed at families to help us celebrate our 20th anniversary and perhaps to prepare for Mother’s Day next week.

The market will run between 9am and 1.30pm.

We’re delighted to be joined by craft worker Deni Riach on Saturday 23 March for a day of crafty fun for all the family.  Deni will help children (and any adults who fancy having a go) make giant paper flowers, wood necklaces and seed cups with recycled paper cups, planting sunflower seeds and wild flower seeds to grow for Spring. Kids can decorate them all for their mums; after all, it’s Mother’s Day on Sunday 31 March.

Deni will have her own stall and will be at the market between 9am and 1.30pm. The activity is free but any donations will be much appreciated. It is all part of Hexham Farmers’ Market’s 20th anniversary celebrations!

We’re delighted that Simon Raine of the Weardale Cheese Company will be joining us as a guest producer at the farmers’ market of 23 February 2019.

Based in the unique setting of an old Prisoner of War camp hut at Harperley near Wolsinham in Weardale, County Durham, , Simon hand-makes a range of hard and semi-soft, white, blue and smoked cheeses, which he sells across the north east to farm shops, deli’s, pubs, restaurants and at food fairs and festivals.