Victorian festive market to help trade after storm

A Victorian-themed Christmas market weekend is to be held in a Kent town to try to boost trade a week after a popular annual festival was cancelled due to Storm Darragh.

The Rochester Dickensian Christmas Festival, as well as the town's festive market, were scrapped on Saturday and Sunday due to a Met Office warning of high winds.

Coach tours normally bring visitors to the event from long distances, and the streets of the town are usually crammed with tens of thousands of people.

Shane Waterman from the Rochester City Centre Forum said cancelling the event was the right call but had been "devastating for businesses".

He told BBC Radio Kent: "Some have spent tens of thousands of pounds expecting the footfall, which didn't happen.

"One cafe owner I spoke to was in tears as he had bought in 1,000 extra sausages," he said.

Businesses, along with Medway Council, have spent days trying to figure out how to get back some of those losses, according to Mr Waterman.

He said: "We're going to do as much as we can this coming weekend as the weather is looking a lot better."

Shopkeepers along the high street will be invited on Saturday and Sunday to dress up in Victorian costumes and set up stalls outside, he said.

Mr Waterman said: "We're turning the clock back to how the Rochester Christmas market started in 1977.

"What we can't do is a reset of the Dickensian festival. That can't happen."

A spokesperson for Medway Council said: "We really want to support local businesses, costumed characters, stallholders and performers as much as possible for the final weekend of Rochester Christmas markets."

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