Westside will be welcoming a new artisanal and farmers’ market this summer – thanks to a helping hand from the Commonwealth Games.
The new Canal Square Market will be launched on Friday 10 June, between 3.30-7.30pm outside Juju’s Bistro and will feature 22 stalls selling everything from craft jewellery and art to ice-cream, samosas and locally produced spicy sauces.
Businesses based in the square, including JuJu’s Bistro and the Vibro Suite Wellness Club, will also be involved.
The market has been organised by the Convention Quarter Residents’ Alliance (CQRA), an association of residents and businesses based around the NIA, ICC and neighbouring canals which meets regularly to discuss issues affecting the area and offer local input to planning applications being considered by Birmingham City Council.
The project is being supported by a £10,000 grant from the Commonwealth Games Celebrating Communities scheme.
The CQRA hopes the market will be a runaway success, with demand for stalls at the first event already outstripping the number of spaces available.
CQRA Chair Alex Elder said: “We’ve often been told that Canal Square is a nice, picturesque space in the heart of our community, and a lot of European cities would hold a market in a place like this. We’ve been thinking for some time about how we could make more use of it.
“The square is an ideal spot for a market as it’s surrounded by apartments and family housing, with around 4-5,000 people living within a couple of minutes’ walk.
“It’s also a main access route into the city centre with a lot of footfall, so we’re hoping the market will attract quite a few customers and will be a real treat for people who live nearby as well as any visitors passing through.”
Alex added that local councillors Kath Hartley and Sir Albert Bore had suggested tying the markets in with the Commonwealth Games and applying for grant aid, a move which had helped the organisation to get the market plan off the ground.
“We are really grateful to our local councillors, who have been great supporters of CQRA over the years,” he said. “As a result, we’ll be holding a street market on dates before, during and after the Commonwealth Games, which will be taking place across the city with one of the main venues being the NIA, which is very close by to us.
“Apart from giving residents some active local involvement in the games celebrations themselves, we hope there will be a significant legacy premium by using the square for regular street markets over future years. We already have a further market planned for Christmas.”
The artisanal market will be taking place in Canal Square, B16 8EH, on the Fridays of 10 June, 29 July, 9 September and 2 December, between 3.30-7.30pm.
Mike Olley, general manager of Westside BID, said: “It’s great to see that the streets of Birmingham city centre are really buzzing this year following two years of COVID-19 disruptions, and that’s due in no small part to the arrival of the Commonwealth Games, which are such a good showcase for our city.
“I’m sure these markets will be a great success and popular with locals and city visitors alike, and we look forward to seeing many more of them taking place in future.”
For more information about the markets visit https://cqra.org.uk/
