We are very disappointed to announce that Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council has refused to fund the Boldmere 2026 Christmas Festival and so we are unable to run this event.  We know this will be a massive disappointment to all involved.  We are looking at alternative options for running an event in Sutton Park in summer 2027 so please watch this space.  We are also looking at options for a permanent artisan market in Boldmere, but unfortunately we are facing the same political barriers with funding for this.

After reading the information below, please fill in the form at the bottom of this page if you wish to express interest in our future festivals.

As an incentive for Boldmere residents, we will waive the donation required for gazebo hire if you don’t have one of your own and sign up at least 8 weeks before a festival, and you can request an area where you would like to be pitched before we start pitch planning.

If your request is accepted, donations must be made within 5 working days of acceptance.  If donations are not received we may offer your pitch to another applicant.  We only accept requests for bookings through this online form.  We do not offer any verbal or informal agreements for stalls.

Options include:

• 3m x 3m Pitch £50 (hire of gazebo additional £55 donation) – gazebo hire waived or reduced for Boldmere / Sutton Coldfield startups and sole traders who are relatively new to markets – we have a limited set of gazebos, so please bring your own if you can.  Bringing your own gazebo will increase your chances of being accepted.
• 3m x 4.5m Pitch £70 (hire of gazebo additional £75 donation)
• 3m x 6m Pitch £90 (hire of gazebo additional £95 donation)
• Hire of 6ft tables as part of a pitch above £15 each (please note that a refundable deposit of £40 by card per table is required on the day and will be refunded when you return your table)
• Hire of gazebo weights £15 per set (included in gazebo hire donation if hiring one of our gazebos)
• Street Food & Beverages £120 pitch donation + 10% of revenue donation
• Other food (small confectionary, condiments, desserts) standard pitch donation + 10% of revenue donation *
• Fairground and other attractions 15% of revenue donation

Our festival is based around our community and we particularly welcome stalls such as:

• Activities for children
• Children’s toys, books and clothes
• Hand-made crafts, cards, jewellery etc
• Novelty gifts
• Face painting
• Local farm produce
• Startups
• Street food (except burger vans / chips / hot dogs)

Please note that we do not accept bookings for the following:

• Political parties or politicians
• Second hand jumble (high quality second hand items only)
• Bric-a-brac
• Charity money collecting (charities are welcome to run a stall to raise money by selling items or running an activity)
• Tombolas or prize every time type activities (we have local charities doing these already)
• Paid for raffles
• Inflatables (due to lack of anchoring points)
• Toy guns / swords or other toy weapons

Please read the information below carefully:

• We require all stall holders to have their own public liability insurance (PLI).  If this is something new to you then you may want to purchase a one day policy (for example https://graham-sykes.co.uk/event-insurance/one-day-stallholder/)
• Stall holders should make reference to this document from Birmingham Trading Standards and their accompanying letter.
• Food and beverage retailers must have a food hygiene rating of 4 or 5.  Environmental Health Officers have visited our event before and do enforce this.
• Food and beverage retailers must familiarise themselves with this outdoor event guide from Birmingham Environmental Health.
• If supplying your own gazebo, you must also provide weights to hold it down.  These should be a minimum of 5 kg per leg and should not create a trip hazard.  Examples of weights include metal weights, sand bags or water containers, but they must be designed for the purpose of holding down gazebos.  If your stall has a source of ignition (e.g. candles, gas, cooking) then the gazebo must be certified as fire retardant.  We are able to provide gazebos (without sides), tables and weights for hire if you do not have your own equipment (see costs above).
• Food and beverage or other stalls with an ignition source should read this fire safety guidance and may want to consider completing the form.
• Please read our TERMS & CONDITIONS for booking a stall.

* We share the risk with high volume, high profit-margin food retailers, by asking for a 10% revenue donation on top of the pitch donation, but we recognise that the 10% revenue donation can be a barrier for some startups and small businesses (e.g. home-made desserts) so we encourage you to get in touch with us if this would be a barrier for you.  We do have some discretionary exemptions to the 10% revenue donation for certain circumstances.

Request a stall at the next Boldmere Community Festival:

To request a stall at the next Boldmere Community Festival, please complete this form (you will need to have a Google account to complete the form).