The Market Place will again be the hub of the Alnwick Food Festival in 2008. It will be packed with stalls selling a varied selection of local produce.

About 50 stallholders (check out the Exhibitors section for news of who's coming) will be offering everything from top quality ice cream to fresh meat farmed in the fields around Alnwick district. They will be giving visitors tastings and cooking hints, as well as selling their produce.

The Market Place really came into its own hosting the bustling, vibrant, colourful market during the 2005, 2006 and 2007 food festivals.

We are again hoping to have a giant screen in the Market Place. Cookery demonstrations, which will be held in the adjacent Northumberland Hall, will be "beamed" on to the screen for those who are unable to get a seat inside. The chefs will be using ingredients from the 40-plus food producers in the Market Place, so where better to watch them at work.

A programme of entertainment in the Market Place will create a carnival atmosphere. For details of performers, click here.

The Market Place

The heart of Alnwick, the Market Place, was formed by the 1500s with a triangle of buildings marking the division of an ancient track from Lesbury en route to Eglingham and Edlingham.

It is now a square bordered on two sides by the Northumberland Hall and the Town Hall and by shops and cafes on the other two.

The Town Cross now stands in the north-east corner. Over the years it has taken several forms in different locations near the market place, the earliest recording being in 1695. It currently has ten steps, which were used for proclamations, and stood near a set of stocks and an old pillory.