A Colourful Past and a Bright Future: Borough Market Is Celebrating 1,000 Years

A great market is something that can make a city truly great. Nowhere is this more true than London - England's capital is blessed to have some of the world's very best markets. Somewhere to cater for every taste.

A great market is something that can make a city truly great. Nowhere is this more true than London - England's capital is blessed to have some of the world's very best markets. Somewhere to cater for every taste.

And talking of taste, one of the very tastiest markets is celebrating its 1,000th birthday in pretty special fashion this year.

On Saturday 20th September Borough Market will invite visitors to celebrate its millennium by marking the occasion literally with their footsteps.

In an event called Footsteps in Time, Borough Market will kick-off a year of festivities by encouraging members of the public to create a colourful trail of footprints across the Market.

At each of the three main entrances to the market, shoppers will walk through a different colour of eco-friendly wash-away paint. As they walk around the market, they will leave behind thousands of interlacing footprints, creating a vast and rapidly evolving work of art.

The process will be filmed from above to create a time-lapse video clip and the public will be encouraged to post their own images on social media with the hashtag #BoroughMarket1000. At the end of the day the paint will be washed away, taking the streets of the Market back to their original state.

Keith Davis, Managing Director of Borough Market, said: "The work will beautifully represent all the millions of feet that have passed through the Market over the centuries - from William Shakespeare to Charlie Chaplin - as well as those that have yet to come."

And great news. This art work isn't it for the millennium celebrations. The artwork will be followed by a series of events scheduled to take place throughout the next twelve months, hosted by the Market in collaboration with leading figures from the food and education sectors.

Forthcoming events to celebrate Borough Market's 1,000 years:

  • Apple Day festival in October - with 1,000 varieties of British Apples on display in a very unique way.
  • 1,000 Christmas Kisses - encouraging public displays of affection with 1,000 mistletoe berries suspended in the Market Hall in December.
  • Food debates and education programmes - guest speakers will be invited to talk to the public about the future of food and the role markets can play in society.
  • Summer arts - next summer, Borough Market will stage a range of music and theatre performances.
Close