A Cumbrian farmers market has been named the best in the UK.
Kendal Farmers Market was awarded the UK’s Best Small Outdoor Market 2026 title at the Great British Market Awards.
The awards celebrate excellence, innovation and commitment across the UK markets sector.
The Cumbrian market has a strict producer-only policy, prioritising farmers and makers within a 30-mile radius.
Market organisers actively curates the stall mix to create a purposeful and complementary offer, avoiding duplication while giving each trader the best opportunity to succeed.
New traders benefit from a highly supportive onboarding process, including guidance on legislation, health and safety, paperwork, display standards and early promotional opportunities.
Food School demonstrations have become an important pipeline for new trader applications, allowing producers to showcase skills, trial new products and engage directly with customers.
Seasonal guest traders, such as Lyth Valley Damson Co, add further freshness and excitement, ensuring the market remains dynamic and relevant.
Since the pandemic, Kendal Farmers’ Market has acted as a catalyst for 31 new business start-ups.
Of these, 60% remain regular stallholders. A further 20% have flourished to the extent that they have outgrown the market, moving into permanent premises locally.
Kendal Farmers’ Market manager Marian Graveson said: “I would like to offer huge congratulations to everyone involved in Kendal Farmers Market on this fantastic achievement.
“This award highlights the strength of the partnership between the market, the local community and Kendal as a whole. It demonstrates the market’s central role in supporting and guiding traders as they grow their businesses, while championing our local farming community and artisan producers.
“By attracting large numbers of visitors into the town every second Friday, the market also supports local bricks-and-mortar businesses, helping to create a vibrant and attractive place to shop where customers can access fresh, locally grown, reared and crafted produce, which has become an increasingly popular and important part of Kendal’s community both from a business and residents’ perspective.”
David Catterall DL, chief executive of the National Association of British Markets Authorities, added: ‘’The judging panel at NABMA, made up of industry experts, all agreed that Kendal Farmers’ Market absolutely deserved this award.
“We were really struck by how much they champion local producers and farms, and how genuinely committed they are to helping small sustainable businesses grow.
“Their work with education and the wider community really stood out.
“The team has clearly put in a huge amount of effort to build a market that’s become a real asset to Kendal and the surrounding area; they should be very proud.’’
Kendal Farmers Market trades on the second and last Friday of the month in the town’s Market Place.
