A slightly modified version of Gloucester's community market is set to return just in time for Christmas.
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On Thursday November 26, the Gloucester Business Chamber and the Gloucester Farmers Market are hosting the Gloucester Twilight Christmas Community Market in the Billabong Park between 5pm and 8pm.
Historically, the Gloucester Community Markets were held each long weekend and were filled with the homemade artisan works of community members.
When MidCoast Council revamped the region's market policy and put a call out for a community group to run the farmers markets, things got a bit tricky.
Part of the new policy indicated there could only be one licensee in Billabong Park at one time.
Gloucester Business Chamber successfully applied to run the farmers markets and when the first intersection of dates collided between the two markets the community markets committee opted to no longer proceed.
According to the chamber, earlier this year it successfully applied to relaunch the Gloucester Community Markets on long weekends, however when COVID hit, the proposition was stalled.
With Christmas in mind the Gloucester Farmers Market coordinators, Sarah Fulton and Caitlin Tonelli, saw an opportunity and applied to council for permission to hold a special one-off event as the Twilight Markets.
"There are so many talented people within our local area who would normally be attending the community markets; it was a huge disappointment that we weren't able to organise the long weekend events for everyone," Sarah said.
"We thought it was worth a try, and the least we could do, to seek approval for a special Christmas event so that everyone had a chance to sell their handmade and homemade arts, crafts and Christmas gifts."
It will be a COVID-safe outdoor shopping event allowing the community to come together at a safe distance and support each other in the spirit of Christmas.
"We have a fantastic line-up of local stallholders, local musician Brendan Harvey will be playing and Rotary will be there with a barbecue to take care of dinner," Caitlin explained.
"You can work your way through your Christmas shopping list while supporting local small business and members of the community...and that's the country spirit of Christmas."
To help support the business owners in town, the chamber has also invited them to open their doors for a bit of late night shopping at the same time the markets are on.
If you would like to apply to be a stallholder or would like more information on the Twilight Markets, please email gloucestercommunitymarkets@hotmail.com or visit the Facebook page.