Market Town

Market Town
Friday 28 – Saturday 29 August 2026
Romford Market

For over 779 years, Romford Market has been a place of exchange, encounter and community. This August Bank Holiday, Market Town transforms the historic market and surrounding streets into a 24-hour stage celebrating the voices, stories and everyday experiences that define this place.

Daytime, Saturday 11am – 4pm: Suburban Legends
During the day, Suburban Legends brings the market to life through performance and participation, with a hundred participants animating Romford Market and its surrounding streets. Residents are invited to take part, encountering stories of traders, local characters and the myths that shape the town – celebrating enterprise, humour and resilience, and revealing the epic within the everyday.

Evening, Friday & Saturday, 8.30pm and 9.30pm (30 mins): Meet Me By The Fountain
A lost landmark returns to the heart of Romford — a meeting point between past, present and future.

As night falls, one of London’s largest and oldest markets comes to life. Light, projection and sound ripple across the space, reawakening the spirit of the iconic Liberty fountain and the stories it holds. Created by David Shearing, with text by Vickie Donoghue, sound by James Bulley and video projection by Novak, Meet Me by the Fountain brings echoes of memories together in a spectacular experience.

Meet Me by the Fountain weaves together voices and images of the market’s 775 history: from its origins, to the medieval, from wartime to the 80’s, from today and into an imagined future…

Produced by Havering London in partnership with GDIF and supported by Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, London Borough of Havering, Romford BID and Historic England.

Director and designer David Shearing sits down with writer Vickie Donoghue to explore the making of Meet Me by the Fountain — a large-scale outdoor performance created for Romford Market. Together they discuss Vickie’s journey into writing, her approach to place, people and history, and the process of writing for devised outdoor theatre. The conversation reflects on how hundreds of voices, memories and stories from Romford have helped shape the work, and what it means to write for a place with nearly 800 years of history.

There’s loads going on across Romford as part of the wider Market Town programme. Explore Romford’s past, get creative and enjoy live music.
Click on the events below to find out more or scroll to the bottom of the page to see what’s on!

LIVE MUSIC: The Ionians Young People’s Music Group
Sat 29 Aug, 3 – 6pm / FREE
The Mercury Mall

EXHIBITION: The History of Romford Market 1247 – 2022
Fri 28 – Mon 31 Aug (9am – 7pm Fri, Sat / 10am – 4pm Sun, Mon) / FREE
Romford Shopping Hall

ACTIVITIES: Get Crafty at Havering Museum
Fri 28 Aug, 11am and 2pm / £4 per child + bkg fee
Havering Museum

EVENT: Havering Museum at The Brewery
Fri 28 Aug, 12noon – 4pm / FREE
The Brewery

EVENT: Havering Museum Open Day sponsored by Essex Freemasons
Sat 29 Aug, 11am – 3.30pm / FREE
Havering Museum