Lancaster’s Seasonal Markets

  Michael and Lisa share their journey towards more regenerative farming. We are a small family-run farm located in Bleasdale, in the Forest of Bowland AONB. We are third generation farmers who took over the running of the family dairy farm in 2013. The farm was a high-input, high-output dairy farm, milking the cows three times per day. By the […]

The next FoodFutures Seasonal Market will be in and around Lancaster Market Square on Friday 16 December. The markets are a little different. When we look for stalls, we look for businesses active in the REconomy – economics as if more mattered than just money. Read on for one trader’s story. Rod Everett has farmed at Backsbottom Farm south of […]

Rachel Marshall (RM) of FoodFutures met up with Pete Stephenson (PS), founder of Morecambe Bay Chowder Co. to find out more about this community supported business.   RM: How did the Morecambe Bay Chowder Co. come into being? P: It started with a lot of chowder cooking in lockdown! From this we developed the concept of serving a dish that […]

Lancaster’s Midwinter Market is happening on 16th December 2022 and all local residents and visitors are welcome.

At Claver Hill Community Garden we grow seasonal vegetables and fruit, and we love to preserve the best of the seasons. Growing and harvesting plants as nature intended gives the best tasting vegetables and fruit as they are not forced to grow earlier than the climate in Lancaster allows.

By Susan Gardener (LAMM member) On my desk, I have an adjustable lamp. It’s nearly fifty years old. It’s a great design, and I use it daily. Several years ago, one of its many joints wore loose and it developed a tendency to lurch all over the place. Rather than illuminating my desk it shone brightly onto the ceiling, which […]

By Jay Godden, Closing Loops Gleaning Coordinator at Eggcup Last month Eggcup launched a new scheme with market traders Supper by Sanah to help people pull together during the rising cost of living, and support each other with hot meals. They run a stall in the Lancaster markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays and at the FoodFutures quarterly seasonal markets. (The […]

The clocks have gone back, signalling the start of the colder, darker winter months. But this week, Lancaster will be filled with light and people exploring the Light Up Lancaster art trail. The trail is a chance to see well known Lancaster landmarks as you’ve never seen them before, as well as performances, workshops and audio-visual art work. The art […]

Lancaster based aromatherapy company Autumn Blossoms put ethics and localism at the heart of their business. Emily and Paul are a small family business using locally grown medicinal plants to create their products. Emily shares some insights into what is different about their aromatherapy products. “Since training as an aromatherapist, I was really taken by the distance between me and […]

‘The most sustainable garment is the one you already own’. It is the one you care for, mending, altering and cleaning as needed. As it turns out, mending clothing extends the life of the item on average 1.3 years, greatly reducing the need to consume more clothes. It is estimated that the fashion industry is responsible for 2 to 8 […]

Closing Loops Engagement Coordinator Nina Osswald spoke to Rob Fenton of Wrap Ninjas about his business, his passion for good food and people and what it takes to run a successful food startup during a cost of living crisis.

Written by Jane Cottam. You can meet Jane and taste her delicious food at The SeaSalt Catering at Lancaster’s Midsummer Market on 14 June.  My journey into the culinary world began with a passion for creating beautifully crafted gifts and delicious cakes. Over the years, I found immense joy in seeing the smiles my creations brought to people’s faces. However, […]

Hello, I’m Jess Levine and I am one of the traders at the Seasonal Markets in Lancaster. I often share the craft tent with Amy Gunawan who makes beautiful willow weaving artefacts.  I work as an abstract artist and art tutor, and enjoy the market trader experience as one element of my arts career. There is a uniquely positive vibe […]

Rachel Marshall meets seasonal market traders Wyreside Mushrooms to find out what it takes to grow mushrooms for a living. “We were saving up to buy a house, but we set up a mushroom farm instead!” laugh Hayley and Paul, who set up Wyreside Mushrooms in 2022. Paul has turned a lifelong love of growing things into a thriving micro-business […]

Emre Sarikaya’s journey from refugee to proud street food stall owner My name is Emre, I am from Turkey and I run a stall at Lancaster Charter Market and at the FoodFutures seasonal markets called Taste Fest, offering traditional Turkish foods. I moved from Turkey to the UK three years ago as a refugee, which was a significant turning point […]

By Andi Chapple, Marketing Co-ordinator for the Closing Loops project and the main organiser for the street food market at Light Up Lancaster. When we’re talking about local food, people often think about ‘food miles’. As a market organiser, I can’t actually give you a specific distance that the ingredients of a meal have travelled so you can eat it […]

Hi, I’m Amy, a willow weaver and basket maker based in Lancaster, and my business is Amy Gunawan Willow Weaving. You can often find me at the FoodFutures seasonal markets sharing the craft tent with Jess Levine and her lovely colourful art prints. I make all manner of baskets and decorative items for the home and garden. I sell my […]

Each of Lancaster’s Seasonal Markets brings together local organisations and traders who think in terms of closing local loops. Together, we are closing economic and social loops by recirculating money and energy within the district on a small scale and in a fairer way.

Hi, we’re Joanna and Pav, a husband-and-wife team behind JP Bakery, which we started last year. Pav arrived in Morecambe in 2017 to work in a restaurant kitchen, then moved to front of house and later was promoted to Assistant Manager. We met in January 2021 through a dating app, then met in person in Poland shortly after. There was […]

Wild Roots Nature Fest is coming to Lancaster from 13-15 June A new festival celebrating nature in and around Lancaster City launches this June. The Wild Roots festival is launching this year as a celebration of the natural world and an invitation to explore the beautiful green spaces in and around the city. It’s a chance for you to connect […]

Ellie Ralston is the founder of Baked by Ell. You can order her bespoke treats by messaging her on Facebook or Instagram, and you can meet her in person and taste her creations at the Harvest Market on 12 September 2025 in Lancaster Market Square.

Light Up Lancaster returns to the city to help brighten the autumn nights on November 6, 7 and 8 – that’s Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week.

Packing fruit and vegetable boxes for home delivery is a delight at present, the only difficulty being deciding what to leave out. Highlights at the moment include carrots with long luscious, leafy tops, glossy green cabbages and fabulous fresh greens from our local veg suppliers.

Chris runs Aquila Pizzeria on Penny Street, so pizza has been part of our world for a while now. I’m originally from India and work full-time in marketing, so Doughmance has naturally become a bit of both of us – Italian-style pizza, Indian flavours, local ingredients, a lot of heart – and probably a little overthinking behind every tiny detail.

For many of us, food is simply part of the daily routine. For Jane Cottam, it has always been something deeper – a connection to land, community, culture and belonging. In her own words, she reflects on how those early lessons continue to shape her work in her catering business today.