Cleveleys Weekly Market

Cleveleys Weekly Market operates seasonally at the newly transformed Princess Road Event Space. Pop along for a mixture of general market stalls each week from Easter to September (subject to weather).

Cleveleys Weekly Market

Works at Princess Road in the Spring of 2025 created a safe, pedestrianised space for markets and events. Gates at either end of the street allow access to traders vehicles and the road is surfaced in a contrasting buff colour to denote the different use of space.

Each week from Easter to September, Wyre Council organises a weekly street market. Browse a variety of stalls including homewares, clothes, food, gifts and more.

The market is however subject to weather, especially wind. Traders aren’t legally allowed to stand in winds above 25mph so don’t expect stalls to be there on windy days. Rainy weather is subject to the type of rain! (Joking apart, drizzle isn’t too bad, heavy downpours are something else.)

While you’re in Cleveleys for the market, pop into one of the many cafes and places to eat. If you haven’t travelled by public transport, the long-stay car park at Derby Road is a good bet and then you can take your time. Don’t forget that the Care for Cleveleys group organise loads of other events throughout the year too, most of which take place at Princess Road.

How to Take a Stall at the Market

The Wednesday market in Cleveleys is organised by Wyre Council, so you will need to contact and book a stall with them. Entry level stalls are very reasonably priced – if you’ve been trading at craft fairs and such like, why don’t you give it a go?

You will require Public Liability insurance (minimum £5 million), two forms of ID and a risk assessment. Additionally, to trade at the market, stallholders must submit a completed application form with their name, address, and National Insurance number. You will also require your own gazebo/tables/equipment.

Please contact the Senior Market Supervisor on 07922 594617. Email: fleetwoodmkt@wyre.gov.uk

The Evolution of Cleveleys Weekly Market

It’s taken a long time to get to this point with a market in Cleveleys, and a lot of hard work and campaigning. Now, in a proper space and without restrictions, with your support it can grow into a good attraction for the town.

Where it started…

Anyone who loves Cleveleys knows why a weekly market hasn’t been held here in the past. And that’s because the town previously lacked a site for one.

A lot of the pavement on the wide side of the high street belongs to individual shops. That dates back to when the land was the front gardens of the houses, before they were converted to shops. If you didn’t know that Victoria Road West was once a residential street, have a look at these old photos of Cleveleys. Because of these land ownership problems, the various permissions and licenses required for a market were difficult to sort out. So every time it was looked at it was rejected.

But in 2017 the new Coastal Community Team formed in Cleveleys, now known as Care for Cleveleys. Their first job was to sort out some of the fundamental problems in the town. Things like litter and weeding, cleaning up and making it an attractive place to shop. Markets was their next priority, because they bring people to a place, give them a reason to visit.

The Coastal Community Team looked at the pavements of Victoria Road West, realising that some of the publicly owned space is quite wide, maybe wide enough for stalls? There began months of work to get the new Cleveleys weekly market off the ground, with Wyre Council asked to bring a new street market to the town. It was seen as an important way to bring life and focus to the town centre. A way of giving people a reason to visit.

Why the Market isn’t on the High Street

Behind the scenes the Coastal Community Team made phone calls, petitioned Lancashire County Council (owner of the public pavement and highway) and spoke to people. Meetings were held to look at pavements and bollards, paving flags, loading and access.

The Wyre Council Markets team talked to and consulted with existing town centre retailers. They worked on the various licenses and the paperwork required to make the market a reality. While they worked through the bureaucracy, a trial period began on the plaza at the seafront.

Every possible feasible scenario was considered to get a market onto the high street. However, Lancashire County Council required 2m of clearance in from the highway – which would put the stalls onto privately owned land. Unfortunately permissions would have had to be sought, not only from each individual lease holder of the land but also from the land/premises owners. As you will appreciate this isn’t an easy undertaking and is why the market started at the Plaza. It’s not ideal (because of the weather), but at the time was Hobson’s Choice.

Cleveleys Market Begins!

The new Cleveleys weekly market began on Wednesday 29 August 2018 at the Plaza, the circular performance space against the sea wall. Wednesday is the day so that it doesn’t clash with other Council markets held elsewhere in the borough of Wyre.

The day dawned bright and breezy with much better weather than the previous days of August that year. But it was a bit too breezy for a couple of stalls who couldn’t set up at 6am. Fortunately the wind dropped throughout the day and the sun came out for a decent first event. Have a look at this short video –

After a few weeks it was starting to get into its stride. The promenade is always going to be a difficult spot, weather wise. But Wednesday’s were reasonably kind, and most stalls managed to set up. The number of traders grew slowly, making a lively sight to greet people who pass by.

Reports were that the town centre was much busier than normal, so the early progress was very encouraging. Dubious retailers realised that their initial concerns were unfounded and in fact they experienced an increase in trade on market days.

Take a look at these photos, taken on Wednesday 12 September 2018.

Later into September 2018 the weather deteriorated during the trial period. So the market moved to Derby Road Car Park, opposite the bus station.

Considered to be a success!

Consultation with local businesses suggested they’d seen increased footfall during the market trial period. Shopkeepers told us that visitors arriving on the trams would normally only walk halfway down Victoria Road West, but during the trial went the full length of the road to get to the market on the Plaza. So it’s felt that the operation of a weekly street market will help increase visitor numbers to the town’s high street. The council also received a significant amount of positive feedback from the traders who stood at the market.

So the 2018 trial was considered to be a success and the market was approved to continue in 2019. Of course we all know that 2020 was the most unusual of years because of Covid… But the market was back again in summer 2021.

2021 restart for Cleveleys Market…

We went to take a look on a blistering hot Wednesday 21 July 2021 while the market was trading in the original location at the seafront –

…and a change of look for autumn 2021

By now it was becoming obvious that the seafront isn’t a good place for a regular, weekly event. It’s far too exposed to the winds that blow straight off the Irish Sea.

But everyone worked hard to find a better venue with more shelter from the weather, and put together a good, varied, weekly event. In Autumn of 2021, we were delighted to tell you that Cleveleys Together town partnership and Wyre Council had joined forces with Artisan Markets UK to bring you a new-look local market, in a new indoor venue at Cleveleys Community Centre.

The relaunch and first event took place on Wednesday 27 October 2021. The weather was atrocious – with heavy rain every bit of the day. You couldn’t make it up! But not to be deterred, stall holders set up inside the Community Centre and Strong’s fruit and veg braved the weather to trade outdoors. You’ve got to feel sorry for everyone – but we all tried!

Winter is an awful time of year to start a new outdoor event. Derby Road Car Park is ideal because it’s sheltered from the weather – but the walls that shelter it also hide it from view. But on the plus side, with the indoor community centre venue the Artisan stalls could trade each week.

The Market at the Community Centre and Derby Road

If hard work alone could guarantee success, Cleveleys Market would have been brilliant!

Between October 2021 and March 2022 Derby Road Car Park and the old Beach Road School were picked as the best market site to suit the winter weather. Care for Cleveleys volunteers handed out leaflets to direct people to the site. A LOT of hard work went into getting it going, but alas it wasn’t to be. Traders wouldn’t come unless they knew it would be worth their while and the public wouldn’t come unless there were enough stalls. So stuck in a catch 22, the plug was pulled.

New Start at Princess Road

Throughout 2024, Wyre Council held their weekly market at Princess Road. With winds usually blowing from the west/south west, the buildings offer some protection from the harsh weather and it’s a good, central location.

The not inconsiderable cost of road closures, charged by Lancashire County Council, was a problem. But the fees were paid in order to run a long trial and make sure everyone was happy with it being held there. Finally in 2025 the road was remodelled to create a permanent events space – and the market now has a long-term home!

You’ve got no idea…

The general public looks at a situation and thinks “it’s obvious, why don’t they just do that”. But, in this case, it’s taken seven long years to get from first discussing a plan to having a stable and long-term solution. Each option has to be researched, issues and problems ironed out, tests implemented and assessed. Consultation carried out. Funds raised. A huge amount of work and effort goes into almost everything that you see when it comes to new projects, improvements and changes to things in the public realm. There’s always a reason!

Why Cleveleys Weekly Market is Important

It’s a well documented fact that high streets all over the UK are failing. The world is changing, how we shop is going through upheaval, those who adapt will survive and the town centres who don’t will shrivel and die. And that was before Covid 19…

Tesco in Cleveleys closed on 4 November 2018 because they had apparently been trading at a loss for more than 6 months (it’s Iceland now, and thriving). If a big name like that wasn’t getting enough footfall it means that the town has to sit up and listen. No one can rest on their laurels.

Cleveleys is more vibrant than most. Yes, our footfall is lower than it used to be, but compared to many others we are doing well. We need to stay that way and we need to find ways to make our town attractive to people to get them to come here. Events, attractions, liveliness, life and interesting things are a major part of that.

The Coastal Community Team didn’t have the resources at the time to organise fun days and events. A weekly market is a sustainable way of making a town centre buzz with life, and make it a first-choice for shoppers. It can also be supplemented with speciality markets from time to time.

Do you Care for Cleveleys?

You’ll have gathered by now that the local community loves Cleveleys. Local people cherish the town centre, look after it, use it, support it and shop there. If you want it to stay this way why don’t you join in? Now is the time for everyone to pull together and fight for what we’ve got.

So how can you help and get involved?

• Join the Care for Cleveleys Facebook group. Find out what’s happening in the town centre and when the next clean up is. All the dates for events and activities are on the website at www.CareforCleveleys.org.uk
• Come along to a Town Centre Team Clean Up. Do you hate weeds and litter? Come along and have a satisfying time cleaning it all up!
• Got a local business? Get involved!