NEXT MARKET: April 27th 2024

Twice a year we host a fabulous Rag Market.

‘What’s on earth is a rag market?’ we hear you cry. Well, it’s definitely not a place to sell old rags:  in fact, it’s a traditional term for a textile market.

Our bi-annual Hebden Bridge Rag Market is becoming well known amongst textile fans and crafters in Calderdale and beyond. With the continuing trend for ‘make do and mend’ and the rise in the popularity of homemade furnishings and clothing (thanks to programmes like The Great British Sewing Bee and Kirstie’s Homemade Home), there’s never been a better time to brush up on old crafting skills or learn new ones. And our Rag Market is the perfect place to find the tools and materials to get started.

Although some of our stalls are professional companies, many are crafters just like you who are having a clear-out of their stash. This means that much of the yarn and fabric on sale is vintage and you can pick up unusual items not available in the shops. There are also books, buttons, stamping equipment, decorative paper, ribbon and lace, old patterns, needles and tools and a myriad of other delights to rummage through. It’s a real treasure hunt and you never know what you might find.

The next Rag Market is 27th April 2024.

This year we have three venues – Hebden Bridge Town Hall, The Making Mill and Northlight Studios.   There is a small entry fee of £1 which gets you into all venues and the proceeds fund our educational bursary, our WI speakers and our charity of the year. For up to date information, follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

If you have a craft room that needs a declutter, stalls cost £40 for the day. Hebden Bridge Town Hall and Northlight Studios are now fully booked for October, however we still have space available at The Making Mill. This venue is perfect as an introduction to the Rag Market, or for anyone with more specialised or craft-specific stash such as felting tops, jewellery making findings & beads, or paper crafts etc.

If you’d like to enquire about a stall please email us.

Photos of previous rag markets

Every Rag Market is a little bit different – the stallholders change from market to market plus we like to add new attractions to keep things fresh – but these photos will give you a flavour of what it’s like.

LOVELY THINGS PEOPLE HAVE SAID ABOUT Our Rag Market

HBWI member Katie wrote a blog post about an earlier Rag Market.

Our friends at the Town Hall like hosting the Rag Market.

A customer and her successful haul, which she turned into fantastic sewn chickens.

One of our lovely regular vendors enjoys coming to our market and the lovely Muffin Ceramics are popular regular stallholders.

Come along

We hope we’ve enticed you to come along to our next Rag Market on Saturday 27th April 2024. It’s always a great day out and Hebden Bridge is a delightful place to visit, filled with lovely independent shops, good cafes & pubs and excellent walks.

If you’re a WI planning a group visit, do drop us a line or contact us on our Rag Market Twitter and we’ll arrange to have someone meet you and say hello.