Get Ready for Concord's Market Days Festival

CONCORD, NH -What’s New Hampshire’s favorite free community event? Ask anyone: it’s Intown Concord’s 42nd Annual Market Days Festival, presented by NH Federal Credit Union – when historic downtown Concord transforms into a half-mile-long street fair rivaling any in New England! Market Days takes place Thursday, June 23 through Saturday, June 25, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, and attracts some 50,000 guests. This year’s festival is BIG, and it’s better than ever, with eight entertainment venues and some 190 vendors with a mind-boggling array of good things to eat, drink, see, do, and buy.

Nowhere else in New Hampshire can you find an extravaganza like Market Days, where the heart of the Capital City is closed to cars and opened to people for three whole days of celebration! This year, with the Main Street Project nearly three-quarters complete, Market Days guests will be able to admire and enjoy the charming “new” North and South Main Streets, complete with wide sidewalks, beautiful plazas, and expanded outdoor dining.

As always, the Market Days Festival is FREE to attend – and as always, you’ll need all three days to be able to take it all in! Popular festival attractions include:

• More than 30 hours of live, local music at the Homegrown Stage in Bicentennial Square
• Tandy's Storybook Princess Competition and New Hampshire Idol in Eagle Square
• Free Family Fun activities on the State House Lawn
• Intown Concord’s beer & hospitality tent
• Outdoor movie with Red River Theatres & video games with Double Midnight Comics
• Community performances at the South Main Park Stage
• Fitness demos and (back for 2016!) the Fire Truck Pull at the intersection of Pleasant and Main streets
• Concord Arts Market on Pleasant Street
• Krazy Kids Play Zone and Market Days Mini Golf course on City Plaza
• Touch-A-Truck on North Main Street

New to the festival for 2016: A Strong Man Challenge brings (extremely) strong men to lift (unbelievably) heavy things – 3:00-6:00pm, Saturday 6/25, at the intersection of Pleasant and Main. Also new, the Concord Multicultural Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary, 2:00-6:00pm, Saturday 6/25, on State House Plaza and Capitol Street.

For a schedule of all Market Days shows and performances, click here.

For devoted “fair food” fans, Market Days is the ultimate destination, with more than 30 food vendors offering a fantastic variety of edibles. Why heat up the kitchen, when you can leave the cooking to downtown’s restaurants, cafés, and visiting vendors for three days straight! For a complete list of Market Days food vendors, click here.

Want to volunteer for the Market Days Festival? Lots of fun assignments (and free t-shirts) available - help with check-in, vendor relations, beer tent, free family fun, music, mini golf, and more. To volunteer, visit: http://vols.pt/P3HFUe.

As of June 23, half of the South Main Street portion of the Main Street Project will be nearly complete, with new sidewalks and paving, granite benches and planters, streetlamps, and more, and the construction crews will take a 3-day break for Market Days before beginning work on the west side of the street. Market Days visitors will want to wear comfortable shoes and watch their footing, because parts of the median strip on South Main will still be somewhat gravelly. Last year’s Market Days Festival was a unique opportunity to stand in the middle of Main Street and observe the dramatic difference between the existing streetscape on the west side and the new one on the east. The North Main Street portion of the project area, completed in 2015, not only is a dramatic aesthetic improvement, but has greatly enhanced safety, accessibility, and walkability.

"Market Days is a local tradition for the citizens of Concord and beyond, and we thoroughly enjoy being able to bring our friends and neighbors together year after year to enjoy their downtown,” said Elyssa Alfieri, president of Intown Concord’s board of directors. “We look forward to building on the momentum that was created by an extremely successful event last year – Market Days 2016 is shaping up to be another one for the history books! We invite one and all to come enjoy what downtown Concord has to offer."

Market Days Festival guests will find plenty of parking in 3 downtown garages and several nearby side streets.

Intown Concord thanks presenting sponsor NH Federal Credit Union and other major financial supporters Dunkin’ Donuts, Charter Trust Company, ConvenientMD, Krazy Kids, Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Grappone Automotive Group, and the City of Concord. The Market Days Festival is produced by Intown Concord, a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to promote and enhance the business environment, cultural activities, housing, and appearance of historic downtown Concord. Info: intownconcord.org. #DiscoverDowntownConcord #ConcordNH

Submitted by Intown Concord.