Kirton-in-Lindsey Christmas Market Anyone?

I have been passed this email extract concerning a Christmas Market on the 4th of December, 2010.

We are holding a Christmas Market on 4th December 2010 and are looking for local purveyors of high quality goods, with the aim of making ours the best local Christmas Market in the area. As you may have heard, our Town Hall, the focal point of our market area, has recently received a £1m restoration and is due to be re-opened by HRH Prince Edward next month. We are planning, therefore, to hold a traditional Christmas event based around our fantastic newly restored Town Hall, which will be lit with brand new heritage floodlighting. There will also be entertainment including a brass band, choirs, Father Christmas, small children’s rides and various street performers.

Our stall hire is priced at just £25 and includes a traditional market stall canopy and lighting, which I believe is much more competitive than some Christmas markets!

I attach a flyer with more information and a booking form. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me via email or on (*&(&&(&**(*( (Number withheld by Craft Fair Eye).

We do hope you consider joining us, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Now the first thing that strikes me about this event, which is soliciting crafters and stallholders to attend, is the date. The 4th of December is slap bang in the middle of the Lincoln Christmas Market. One of the biggest Christmas Market events in the whole of the UK. It is also only about 20 miles away, or 30 minutes by car. If someone is really interested in visiting a Christmas Market are they going to stick to a small local event or go along to a huge event that attracts crowds from around the world?

The email goes on about the refurbishment of the local Town Hall. All well and good but it suggests to me that this whole event is to promote the Town Hall and not the stallholders. Do we have another example of stallholders being used to attract people to a location at their (the stallholders) expense? Perhaps it would be fairer for the crafters/stallholders to be paid for their time? Especially as they are a form of entertainment and being used to attract visitors to the event in Kirton-in-Lindsey.

I do love the bit about "Our stall hire is priced at just £25 and includes a traditional market stall canopy and lighting, which I believe is much more competitive than some Christmas markets!" It wouldn't be too far a stretch of the imagination to assume that this is a reference to the Lincoln Christmas Market. The difference between the two events? The Lincoln Christmas Market attracts a reported 150,000 visitors over a couple of days. Somehow I cannot see Kirton-in-Lindsey managing to reach that kind of footfall. Also, if you are a crafter/stallholder you have to ask yourself what is the point of attending an event so close to Lincoln during the Christmas Market. The Lincoln Christmas Market is heavily advertised and would be a major competitor. Drawing customers from all over the region and beyond. To sell you need people. If the people are elsewhere then selling becomes impossible.

If this event was being run at another time then it might be something you'd consider. But the date is a killer. It's the crafter/stallholder equivalent of opening a small clothes shop next to a new Primark store.