SHERINGHAM DIARY No 88 - Life Is But A Breeze

We'd booked to do a Maker's Market on the Crowning Day of Sheringham Carnival. Sheringham, in this context at least, operates in a world view straight out of post war England. Where parades of specially themed and decorated floats exist, as do glamourous granny competitions. best baby, and Carnival Queen. All traditions apparently, worth still upholding. Its on the one hand quaint, but on the other a  slightly baffling series of anachronistic events. Particularly to still be in existence in 2023. When locals chant the imperative to 'Keep Sheringham Special' it is this 'as if living outside the present day zeitgeist ' that is being referred to. 

As the weekend of the market neared, the weather forecast was increasingly foreboding. Torrential rain, gale force winds, the weather seemed to be raising a warning - do not set your heart on doing this thing. Yet with every day the forecast turned around slightly, was less bleak. First there would be little rain, then no rain at all, then a less stiff intensity of breeze. Ever the optimists we decided not to call it off.

As we were now in seven day opening mode, this was also to be the first Sunday opening in the shop, to which the Market was an addition. The prep for any Market goes on for weeks beforehand. Raising stock levels etc. There is always a degree of tension and stress around this. The weather being just one of the uncertain players in its staging. Setting it up and breaking down at the end, make these markets a long tiring day.

Once our stall was set out, it was clear our gazebo was only just standing up to the strength of breeze. Another stall holder's gazebo before getting fully erected, blew away and hit someone. We had to weight some of our stock down to prevent it blowing away. I went back to the shop to open up and trading to begin. The stall sold a key ring early on and then Hubby had to literally endure hours of nothing. We had made a questionable decision here. The day was really all about family and friends coming to support younger members in their participation in competitions and performances. No one here was thinking about shopping.

But the 'Makers' market offering was not good enough. There were only a handful of stalls booked for it. Not enough to make it a sufficient draw. Where it's held is way out of the main retail area. The whole thing was not organised well and the idea of a Maker's Market in that context, in retrospect, was totally misconceived. The stall had a flurry of two customers just as we were in the process of packing up early. We'll not do anything like this again, and the first whiff of a 30 mile an hour gale, we shall confidently cancel. We have learnt our lesson.

So there has been a lot of activity around Carnival Week in Sheringham, as is usual in the first week in August. And it is also usual for us to not have a good week of takings during it. This year is so far proving to conform to our expectations. Why this is so does not require a degree in retail. It is a combination of a number of things around the focus of a tourists attention.

Generally during the high summer season non food shops struggle to get purchases if the weather is too hot. No one comes out in a heatwave. If they do they head straight for the beach. High Street retailing in a seaside town is one that is constantly in competition with the alluring magnetism of the beach.

If you introduce a second thing to draw folks away from the High St. It provides yet another focus elsewhere in the town. It divides tourist attention still further. The issue for us with the Carnival, is it holds lots of events aimed at children, some also on the beach. There is a huge fair parked on the Station Rd car park for two days. A beach at one end. A fun fair at the other. The high street acting only as a thoroughfare between them.

Carnival week tends to attract a particular class of tourist and puts off others. Carnival  attracts younger families. More of them book for Carnival Week because they know there are these free events for kids, more than at any other time. Young families with kids tend to have a limited budget to spend on other non essential items. More so during a cost of living crisis. So our daily takings decline accordingly, though we have a larger overall number of sales its for single smaller amounts. Carnival Week tourists are for us inherently very 'off brand'