How to Get a Stall at Louth Market

To get a stall at Louth Market, you apply to become a registered trader on East Lindsey District Council's website, then book and pay for your pitches online. The council runs the markets in Louth, Horncastle and Spilsby through the same system, and its markets team answers questions by email at markets@e-lindsey.gov.uk.

Where and When You Can Trade

Louth Market is held in Cornmarket on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 9am to 3pm. Horncastle Market is on Thursdays and Saturdays from 9am to 2pm, and Spilsby Market is on Mondays, except bank holidays, from 9am to 2pm. Louth also has the Farmers' Market on the fourth Wednesday and Food Friday on the second Friday of each month, which suit food and drink traders.

Applying to Trade

You start by creating a My Account for market traders on the council's website, then complete the trader application. The council has written two step-by-step guides, one for each part, and links them from its Become a Trader page, along with its terms and conditions and trader information. Read those before you apply, because they set out what the council expects from every trader.

Booking Your Pitches

Once you are approved, you reserve and pay for pitches through the council's online Market Stall Bookings Hub. Casual bookings go through the same hub. The council moved to this digital system from manual bookings, and it has published answers to the questions traders asked about it on its booking system FAQs page. The markets team will help if you are not confident with the technology.

What Goes on the Pitch

A standard pitch is 3 metres by 3 metres. The council can provide stalls free of charge, subject to availability. Its set-up options are a full stall that includes boards, or a walk-in stall, and traders are welcome to use their own canopies if they prefer. At Spilsby the council provides gazebos instead. Pitch fees depend on the town and on whether you trade as a regular or a casual trader, and the council lists the current fees on its markets page, so check there before you budget.

Free and Reduced Ways In

The council's Become a Trader page says every new trader can take a complimentary trial, which lets you attend your first market free of charge, and it has run discounted rents for new and existing traders in the quieter months. Both can change, so ask the markets team what is on offer when you apply.

Charities and local organisations can have a free pitch on any East Lindsey market once every three months, subject to availability, and a stall or gazebo may be provided. It can be used to raise money or to raise awareness. Young traders and performers can take part for free in the council's Teenage Market, which returns on dates announced during the year on its Teenage Markets page.

Before You Apply

Visit a market or two first and see which stalls draw a crowd, what they sell and how they set out their pitches. Look at the mix: a market with five cheese stalls does not need a sixth, but one with no one selling plants might. Check the East Lindsey Markets Facebook page to see how the council promotes each day.

Customers will want to find you again once the market has gone home. A page on inLouth does that all week, so people searching for what you sell in and around Louth find your name.

For market days, special markets and parking, see our Louth Market guide.