TELL US: Ideas to Improve Concord’s Market Days Festival

Intown Concord is circulating an online survey and will be meeting on Aug. 7, for a post-Market Days Festival party. 

According to organizers, attendance was down significantly, mostly due to the oppressive – and freakish – weather, as well as the groundbreaking attendance in 2012. 

As organizers move forward with its surveying, post-party, and future listening sessions, Patch is asking you, How can the Market Days Festival be improved?

If we could control the weather, banning scorching hot days and insane thunderstorms would be a great start. But as we all know, no one has control over the weather.

This year, organizers went out of their way to build-in a slew of new fun activities, including family-friendly activities toward the northern part of Main Street. What did you think of them?

In the past, when Downtown Concord was lined with retailers and the festival was called Old Fashioned Bargain Days, the event was held towards the end of the summer so that retailers could slash prices on items that weren’t selling. This was done to make sure there was room for new inventory in time for back-to-school shopping. 

However, retailers on Main Street and the consumer experience has changed a lot in the decades since the event first started. One idea for improvement might be to change the date to be more of a "gateway to summer" event instead of a "mid-summer" event, in an effort to avoid the crazy weather. Would a late June date, after schools get out, be a better option? 

What are your ideas for improving the Market Days Festival? Leave a note in the comment section below and be sure to fill out the online survey for Intown Concord.