Markets in Banbridge

Friday and Saturday at Solitude Park

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council lists Banbridge Market at Solitude Park on Fridays and Saturdays, 8am to 5.30pm. The stalls have set up on the Rathfriland Street side of the park, above the River Bann.

The council has looked for an outside operator for the site, so phone 0300 0300 900 to check who runs the pitches.

Solitude Park is also where the council puts fun fairs, and its grass hosts evening food markets in late summer.

Car boots and fairs around Church Square

Holy Trinity Church (Banbridge Church of Ireland) on Church Square runs a car boot sale on the last Saturday of each month. Buyers come in from 10am; sellers set up from 9.30am.

A table or a car pitch costs £5 and a van £10. Book your place on the parish website and read its terms first.

The same church holds a Twilight Christmas Craft Fair on a Friday evening in late November, from 6pm to 9pm, with handmade gifts, food and a Santa's grotto.

From the fibre festival in February to Santa Paws in December

The Bannville Hotel on the Lurgan Road also runs a pre-loved clothes market in September. Recent Santa Paws tickets have been £3, with the money going to an animal rescue charity.

The council's touring Artisan Food and Craft Market visits Banbridge and Dromore during the summer, alongside Armagh, Lurgan and Portadown.

• Late February: Heritage Thread and Fibre Festival, Belmont Hotel, 10am–5pm, no charge to get in
• June: BuskFest Saturday, 60+ buskers, artisan market and a Solitude Park fun fair
• Late August: Lamb and Local Food Fayre, Shanaghan Hill Farm, Katesbridge, 11am–4pm
• Early September: Sundown food market, Solitude Park, Food and Cider Weekend
• Late November: Garvaghy Presbyterian Church tree field and twilight market
• Mid-December: Santa Paws Twilight Market, Bannville Hotel, dogs welcome

Getting a pitch at Solitude Park or a Church Square boot

For the Solitude Park market, phone the council on 0300 0300 900 first. Its online expression of interest form currently covers Armagh, Lurgan and Portadown, so ask which route applies to Banbridge.

Council markets ask for at least £5 million public liability insurance, and they take permanent traders, who pay in advance, and casual traders, who book week by week.

To trade on a street on your own, ask the council's Environmental Health team on 0330 0561 011. The April 2026 fee sheet puts a temporary street trading licence at £137.

Bus 238 and the car parks off Bridge Street

The Goldline 238 runs from Belfast Grand Central to Banbridge bus station in about 50 minutes, roughly every half hour in the weekday daytime. It stops at Church Square and Main Street too.

Church Square car park (138 spaces), Gospel Lane and Kenlis Court are council car parks with no charge. Downshire Place, Commercial Road, Bridge Street East and Townsend Street are pay car parks.

Bridge Street climbs steeply from the river, so park near Rathfriland Street if you carry stock.

Linen, the Market House and the Cut

Banbridge grew where the Belfast to Dublin road crossed the Bann. In the 1700s it became a linen town, with bleach greens along the river and busy cattle and horse fairs.

The Market House on Scarva Street, now the Old Town Hall, dates from 1833–34. A year later the Cut was dug through Bridge Street, because horses could not pull heavy loads up the hill.