Heroic effort by organisers overcomes 'most difficult year ever' for Knaresborough Christmas Market weekend
The heroic organisers of this year’s Knaresborough Christmas Market have talked about facing “challenges like never before” as Storm Darragh hit – and how they were determined that the popular event had to happen.
After Knaresborough Christmas Market eventually took place last weekend having been cancelled the previous weekend, Hazel Haas MBE Chairman Knaresborough Christmas Market said they were determined not to let the town, its businesses and residents down – despite a range of major obstacles to overcome.
"This year we faced challenges like never before,” said Hazel.
"It has been the most difficult year we have ever had to face since 2007 when the current organisers began their work.
"There was Storm Darragh which forced us on the Thursday to postpone the scheduled weekend of December 7th and 8th, and then extremely high winds on Sunday the 15th after moving the dates.
"But we didn’t really consider cancelling and walking away.
"It was so important to the town not to lose the market altogether.”
After volunteer members of the Knaresborough Christmas Market Committee, incredibly, managed to pull the majority of the event back together in two very long working days with a full complement of 66 trading and seven catering stalls booked, there were more challenges.
But the community spirit of Knaresborough is such that everyone rallied round to the cause to ensure the Christmas market took place.
Hazel Haas said: “Sadly, it was difficult to rebook some of our traditional entertainers as they had other commitments, and only a few of the coach companies managed to reschedule their trips, from all over the North, including the North East, Liverpool, Blackpool and Nottingham, but some did manage it.
"On the evening of Friday 13th, we erected the stalls as usual, but with the help of a volunteer force instead of the North Yorkshire Council teams, as they were unavailable.
"The local Cricket Club supplied the workforce to set up the colourful stall covers, as they usually do."
But that was not the end of the story. Storm Darragh may have been the week before but the weather was still challenging.
"Overnight the weather changed dramatically, with very strong winds forecast for noon.
"To ensure safety, we removed the stall covers at 6am, with our volunteers turning out even at that hour in the morning to help. Over 50 stallholders still came to trade, accepting the new conditions.
"The spirit of camaraderie between traders, volunteers and local businesses was so heartwarming."
Despite their best efforts, the weather did impact on the success of this year’s Knaresborough Christmas Market, which was forced to close before 2pm, though the annual display by Ferrensby Fireworks did go ahead.
But the reaction of the public to the organisers’ heroic efforts has been gratifying, said Hazel.
"Our social media and email inbox has been flooded with comments and emails from traders and visitors who were delighted with our efforts, and understood that we had made the best of what could have been a very difficult situation.
"The event is a joint venture between Knaresborough Rotary, Lions and Chamber of Trade, but could not happen without the army of helpers who give unstintingly of their time and talents.
"There are too many to name, but Knaresborough has such a strong community spirit, which shines through when events are organised throughout the year.
"We are lucky to be part of such a great town.”