Caldicot Town Team 2021 Update
2021 has been and gone, with Co-Vid dominating most of our lives in one way or another it may be an understatement to wonder what 2022 has in store for us all. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, Millions of us have been vaccinated and boosted with Jabs and until Omicron came along, was hoping for a much brighter 2022. There are however, lots of positives to 2021, we would like to share some of ours with you, while we take a quick trip down memory lane.
Markets
Our markets returned this year, with new traders, new products and even a new location. We have been busy behind the scenes purchasing new gazebo’s to allow more traders to attend and this has proved a success, with the average trader numbers up to 23 at our markets.
We even trialled a new location for our markets at the pedestrian area between Asda and Caldicot Hub, while not everyone was in agreement at the new location, including ourselves, the visibility of the market did allow for members of the public to visit the market where they otherwise would not have. We will be back in the town centre for our markets for 2022 and will be working closely with Monmouthshire County Council to make the experience of the market a more enjoyable and accessible place, not just for traders and members of the public, but also the shops within the town centre.
Our first market back in 2022 is likely to be the Easter Market – Dates are to be set, but keep an eye out on Social Media for updates to this and our other dates throughout the year.
Events
Events this year were back! Thank the lord! We mixed up the Family Fun Day this year with a new theme, A Carnival of Animals, and boy did we bring some animals to the town centre. Including Crocodiles, Snakes, Lizards, Porcupines, Stick Insects and even an Armadillo (bonus point for those who remember the Diam advert featuring an armadillo!)
Our Dinosaur was an amazing event, and we would like to thank the team for their 5th attendance at our event. Every year the team get bigger and better at providing fun, laughter and lots of scares!
The day was an amazing, electric event, which saw street performers, our live stage being used for talk shows as well as a Punch and Judy show and more. Visitors turned up in there thousands and were welcomed by all. Next year the event will be back as usual, but this time with a totally different theme and of course will be based around our motto of keeping events as low cost and as good value as possible for all to attend.
Our 999 Emergency Services Day was also a huge success, with attendance from South Wales Fire & Rescue, Gwent Police, Aneurin Bevan Health Board and lots more taking place in the grounds of Caldicot Castle & Country Park during the Summer Holidays. Visitors flocked to take selfies with members from the Emergency Services, with so many of them doing great work over the Pandemic. There was even a special fly over from the Police’s Air Support Team NPAS Filton!
Street Food Festivals also returned in 2021, to great crowds, brilliant acts and fun filled Friday nights in Caldicot Town Centre throughout the summer. Traders had a bumper turnout of eaters, with the pizza trader in particular doing extremely well with their mouth watering toppings and choices. We would like to give a big shout out to Alan from Clarkes Butchers who very kindly gave out 200 free irresistible burgers topped with his famous chilli as a thank you to locals for all his support over the lockdown.
