Villagers say goodbye to much loved farmers' market in Felpham

The farmers’ market took place on the second Saturday of each month from 9am to 1pm, and gave local farmers a platform on which to sell their goods.

With stalls selling fresh eggs, homemade jams, olives, flowers and more each month, as well as live music, the farmer’s market was a reliable hit with locals and visitors alike.

The market first came to Felpham back in June 2021, and more than a thousand people turned out to the inaugural event. Organiser Rachel Higbee said she first organised the market to help drive trade on quiet village weekends.

"I know Felpham like the back of my hand. I’m from here. We had a house here for 40 years and, when I came back down from London, I really wanted to help the village, particularly on a Saturday,” she said.

Despite now closing, Miss Higbee said she’s ‘proud’ of what the farmer’s market achieved over 18 months in Felpham. “I’m definitely proud of what we achieved because I know that it helped the village. Whenever the market was on, the shops would all tell me it made a difference. Even on the quieter days, it made a difference.”

Ultimately, though, and despite its success, Mrs Higbee said the farmers’ market is simply no longer tenable.

"To be honest, quite a few stallholders are struggling across the board and maybe they want to focus on the bigger markets,” she explained. “Since Brexit, as some of us suspected, there’s been a real issue with staff for a lot of the businesses around here. For instance, I spoke to fishmongers, and they said they’d love to come but they couldn’t get the staff to cover us and the other markets they attend."

So it’s goodbye, but maybe not goodbye for good. Although the Felpham Farmers’ Market is no longer a monthly staple, Miss Higbee said she’s open to the possibility of running another event in the height of summer.

"I’d be really sad to draw a complete line underneath it, so it would be nice to do a summer special. We’ll just have to see how everything goes.”

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