Peterborough’s Night Market, organized by the MAXT Makerspace, returns on Saturday, Nov. 29, starting at 2 p.m. in the downtown area.
The market is part of a full day of events kicking off the holiday season in Peterborough, starting with the Living Local Arts Fair at the Peterborough Unitarian Universalist Church from 10 a.m to 3 p.m and culminating with the Night Market, live music, promotions at local businesses, and an outdoor bar.
This year, MAXT Makerspace partnered with the town to offer the town-wide event. An information table with maps and details about the day will open at 1:30 p.m. at the Town House. Maps of businesses and activities, accessible through a QR code, are also available online at the Office of Building and Planning at peterboroughnh.gov.
Town Planner Danica Miller said the town has launched several new economic initiatives this year designed to help local businesses, including the recent Halloween Creepy Crawl.
“We were thinking we wanted to do something for the holidays, so we started thinking about what stakeholders we could reach out to for collaboration,” Miller said. “About four to six months ago, we reached out to Roy (Schlieben, director of MAXT Makerspace), and he was really eager to partner with us, and we’re just thrilled how it has come together.
The Holiday Night Market and Stroll will include 70 vendors, 50 inside the Peterborough Town House, and the rest along Grove Street.
“We will have live music by Joanne the Band on the front steps of the Town House, we’ll have an outdoor bar area, we’ll have a community bonfire with free s’mores,” Miller said.
A special feature of the craft market will be the presence of “Gift Experts” provided by the town of Peterborough, who can steer shoppers in the right direction on their hunt for holiday gifts.
“If people are looking for something specific, our Gift Experts can guide them on where to go and give suggestions,” Miller said. “We have all the vendors, and we also have all the downtown businesses which will be open and which will have promotions going on.”
The event will also include a photo opportunity with an antique sleigh donated by the Inn at Hancock.
“The sleigh had been stored outside the Inn for years, and the owners very kindly donated it to us,” Miller said. “Members of our staff and some volunteers have been restoring it and it’s just beautiful, and people will be able to take pictures with it.”
The Night Market will include food trucks selling Jamaican food, homemade doughnuts, and BBQ as well as food stalls by some local restaurants. The Night Owl Bar will have a beverage center for over-21s in the municipal parking lot.
“This is just a really unique event for the area,” Miller said. “We were excited that Roy wanted to do a winter market. It is a Makerspace event, and we just want to augment it a little bit, we want people to walk around downtown. It should be a pretty special night.”
For more information go to www.maxtmakerspace.org/night-market.