A business owner has secured funding for a Christmas market featuring free stalls for traders to sell their goods.
The new market will run every week through December in Newport city centre, and was thought up by Green Top Events owner Gareth O’Sullivan.
Organisers hope to see up to 50 traders attending each week for the market on Commercial Street, through Friars Walk and at John Frost Square every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the run-up to Christmas.
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The market has been possible due to funding from the business improvement district (BID) body Newport Now. Kevin Ward, manager of Newport Now, said the team is “keen to do everything we can to increase and encourage footfall for our members”.
Gareth said: “Newport city centre as a whole is just deteriorating and people will go to Cardiff and Cwmbran shopping and that's where the traders would have gone too, I know that.
"We know what small businesses have gone through and I felt if we were going to charge traders from Newport to trade in Newport they wouldn’t come.
"So as a Newport based company it’s important we try and get something going in Newport for Christmas.
“Newport BID is going to sponsor the market and pay for the street trading so for us it will just be the cost of the labour. We get nothing out of it, we’re doing it to make sure something is going on in Newport. I do think Newport has potential and I want to see something happening where I live.”
Traders from Newport who are selling goods can apply for a free stall via the Green Tops Events website or can e-mail info@greentopevents.com .
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