Lovely Markets at Wembley Park

The Sunday Market is a special occasion both for the sellers and for the customers.
It takes place at Wembley Park – just few minutes far from the Underground station with the same name – and it will there for you, running from the 5 of October to the 28 of December.

view of some stalls
Photo credit: Alex Xi Zhang

Two university colleagues and I were there for this first Sunday – 5 October.

The location chosen is the space normally used for parking, just on the right of Olympic Way looking at Wembley Stadium - in the sector called Yellow Parking Area.

Firestars’ band marked the entrance. The musicians, equipped with special instruments, played songs which contain a variety of sounds: as one of them told us, the melody that comes out is something “familiar, recognizable, but different”, a medley of Caribbean, South Africa music. We hope to meet them next time.

Many tourists, especially Italian tourists, would probably reply that there are loads of outdoor markets in London – Portobello Road is the most famous one.
Nevertheless, the inhabitants of this district – and for the moment I will consider myself as part of this neighbourhood – could well advertise their market as a special one, a very enjoyable one.

The visitors and the stallholders gather in a friendly atmosphere that looks like a familiar ambience. 

Additionally, this year there were installed new stands: the majority of people we met during our tour told us they just arrived today, for the first time.
A good number of sellers, in fact, have known about this event via the networks or the website, and they just thought it could be a great occasion to enjoy.

Lithuanian food
Photo credit: Alex Xi Zhang

The market opened from ten o’clock in the morning but, as a matter of fact, the crowd has gathered at lunchtime.
No objection to it: the variety of products included not only clothing and accessories, but also a large number of - extremely delicious - dishes. Casting a closer look at this latest subject, once you get in the Market, there is plenty of choices: dishes from India, China, and Lithuania, are just a mention of the variety of food sold.
Sweet, sour, first course or coffee drink. There is no excuse to be hungry!

As for the children, two people dressed as Peppa Pig – available to take some photos with them –  rose the interest also of the kids who were unhappy about getting up early on Sunday morning.
Alternatively, for the older ones, instead, toy stalls and the smell of sweets made them similarly keener on the event.

In terms of what concerns the safety of the event, I have been quite impressed by the constant and vigilant presence of many security guards.

The upcoming event, Sunday 12^th October – and every Sunday until the end of December: Sunday Market and Art, Antiques and Vintages – on Wembley Park Boulevard, 10 am - 4 pm.

Additionally, from the 14 November to the 23 of December: Christmas Market, 10 am – 8 pm. On the other hand, from the 14 November to the 4 January: Ice Rink – both outside the London Designer Outlet.