Statement

Unfortunately, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the Posset Summer Market, which was due to take place this Saturday (11th July 2026).

Before anyone gets upset, we'd like to explain why.

After discussions with various officials outside of our events team, it became clear that the forecast temperatures this weekend, which continue to rise, present a significant safety risk. The High Street offers very little shade, and we simply cannot ignore the potential impact.

Our wonderful volunteers would be working in the heat all day and well into the evening, and we don't want to put them at risk.

We also don't want to put our visitors or our fantastic traders at unnecessary risk.

Unfortunately, even before we made the decision to postpone, several traders had already withdrawn because of the forecast temperatures.

We know one of the first questions will be, "Why not just move it indoors?" Unfortunately, it's not that simple. The logistics involved in relocating an event of this size at such short notice are simply too great.

We also explored using local business car parks that offer more shade—a huge thank you to Tudor Garage and The Poacher for their willingness to help. Unfortunately, due to our event licensing, we are unable to relocate the market to these locations. Believe us, we explored every option available before reaching this decision.

We know this will be disappointing, and we understand that some people may be frustrated. However, we hope you'll remember that we are a team of volunteers who work incredibly hard to raise funds for the Portishead Christmas Lights and to organise great events for our community. Our priority has to be the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved.

If you'd like to get involved, we'd love to hear from you. We're always looking for more volunteers to help us make our events even better.

The good news is that we're determined to bring you the Posset Summer Market as soon as we can. We'll announce a new date as soon as it's confirmed.

Thank you for your understanding, your patience, and your continued support.

The Portishead Christmas Lights Team 🎄

A Posset Christmas Market is Portisheads Biggest Street Christmas Market, established for 20+ years. 

A Posser Summner Market is a new event for 2026 and will follow a similar format to our Christmas event. Both events raising funds for Portishead Christmas Lights. The only difference is there will be no fun fair.

We will have an array of stalls which will include gifts, food and drink and charity stalls. A fun fair will also be present for all to enjoy .

Combined with Live entertainment and local shops, the event is a great afternoon.  The event stretches the high street and is closed off to traffic.  We can't wait to see you there.