THE first Making Markets Matter event for the 2008 season at Ludlow in Shropshire certainly threw up a challenge for the campaign team.
Their worst fears were realised when they woke up in the early morning to see a grey sky and persistent rain.
But the show must go on, as they say, and although the prize vault could not be used for safety reasons everything else was staged as planned.
New for this year is a series of cooking demonstrations by master chef Geoff Tookey, and despite the rain he drew a crowd all day long.
Ingredient for the recipes, which ranged from sausage and braised cabbage to pasta , were all provided locally by traders on the market.
And as part of his patter Geoff was keen to promote the local produce, telling his audience where to go to buy the various items.
Free books containing a selection of Geoff’s recipes were handed out.
Ably assisted by his wife, Christine, Geoff added an extra dimension to the MMM campaign.
The Find the Fruit competition – where competitors have to find representation of fruit and veg “hidden” on the market stalls – attracted quite a few entries, and the winner was drawn by the Mayor of Ludlow, Coun Marie Glaze.
The lucky contestant, Coleen Smith, was presented with her £101 cash prize by NMTF National President Faye Quigley.
The rain stopped about 2pm, which gave Faye and the Mayor the opportunity to walk round the market, chatting to traders. Several said that, despite the weather, the campaign had brought more people to the market.

IT WAS a very different situation when the second MMM event was held at Ludlow, this time on the busy Saturday market day.
The sun shone most of the time and Eric Tweed was kept busy on the voucher vault. The youngsters had a great time winning prizes and having their faces painted.
This time the Find the Fruit competition winner was Debbie Yapp, pictured here with her children Cassie, Lucy and Samantha.
Such was the success of Making Markets Matter that Ludlow is already booking the event for next year.