LOCUS

Sunday proved to be a big hit with scores of people coming to the town centre to take part in the Fair Isle Family Cycle Parade, get pictures of the adorable Shetland ponies in Fair Isle gansies, see Papa Stour Sword Dance and Da Shanty Yellmen and take advantage of the extra shopping available from the shops and the new street market! There was big support from both businesses and the public which added to the community feel throughout the town that day.

We were pleased to see so many people embracing the Fair Isle theme all week by wearing their jumpers and accessories, as well as shops pulling out all the stops to decorate their windows – including Fair Isle fish tanks and bikes!

“Saturday has had a really good atmosphere. The public have had really positive reactions to the whole thing and it has been nice to provide a different kind of shopping experience.” - Ingrid Moar – Ingrid’s Garden Plants

Shops all along Commercial Street and the Esplanade opened late Monday to Friday to give the public a chance to show that later opening hours is something they are keen to have. Unfortunately many businesses found this was not the case and are not yet convinced that late night shopping would be beneficial to everyone. We would like the shops to try this again in the future and hope customers will take the opportunity to really prove that late night shopping is something they want as a permanent feature in Lerwick.

The street market was widely appreciated and it created great opportunities for potential new businesses. The atmosphere it created was incredible with many people commenting on the location being ideal for such a thing and wanting to see more of the same in the future. Prices of the stalls were questioned by some and we have taken this feedback on board when planning our next street market event.

"Today has been a really nice; it’s been lively throughout the day because of the Oxjam Buskathon. My sales have been really good and I would consider taking a stall again." - Melissa Mockford

The Living Lerwick team’s attention will now turn to the up-coming Winter Festival! We are pulling in all of our resources including feedback from last year to make it bigger, better and bolder.

“I would do this again, today has been really good with the Oxjam event taking place as well. Future markets should work in conjunction with other events as well. I have really enjoyed being here, it has been a very positive experience for me and it is good to let people put a face to the Peerie Critters name.” - Freya Gronneberg – Peerie Critters

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