There are still plans to keep Newcastle’s Grainger Market open into the evening and turn it into a “stunning” live venue, despite a flagship event relocating.
It was confirmed this week that the Great Market Caper, which took over the market hall with pop-up bars, street food, music, comedy, and dance performances in a series of late-night extravaganzas last year, is moving to the Baltic art gallery on the Gateshead Quayside. Organisers said that staging events at the Grainger Market had become “too difficult” because of the dated infrastructure at the famous site, which is almost two centuries old, including unreliable electricity supplies.
Having the market stay open later into the evening, particularly for food and drink traders, rather than shutting at its usual 5.30pm has been one of the key ideas for an ongoing revival of the beloved Geordie institution. And Newcastle City Council says that very much remains on the table, as it works up proposals for £9m worth of upgrades that will further boost the Grainger Market’s renaissance.
