FOODIES of Darlington will have plenty of choice in the town today, with the town’s redeveloped market opening its doors and a four-day food and drink festival getting underway.

The six new street food stalls at Darlington’s Victorian covered market offer food from all over the world, from pizzas and burgers to Thai and Hungarian cuisine.

They are: 

  • Manao Thai
  • The Yorkie Wrap Company
  • Fresco Street Pizza
  • Taste of Budapest
  • Spud Gun Loaded Fries
  • What’s Your Beef

It opens to the public today, following a family and friends night on Wednesday and another soft launch event last night.

And it means the market will be open later than usual from Thursdays to Sundays, with food on offer until 7pm on Thursdays, 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 7pm on Sundays.

The food stalls will also open from 11am to 3pm on Monday to Wednesday.

David Shaul, digital media strategist for Market Asset Management (MAM), which runs the market, said: “It’s a fresh idea and a fresh concept.

“I think it’s great for us and great for the town. If we can attract more people into the town everyone wins."

The market hall has been undergoing a major refurbishment since the start of the year.

It sees the addition of the food stalls, along with a stage for live entertainment and seating area.

It is hoped it will boost footfall to the market and attract a new crowd of people.

The redevelopment is the first phase of planned work at the market, with more planned for later this year. 

The next phase, aimed at giving a facelift to the traditional market stalls, is expecting to take place towards the end of the year.

And the third phase, which will see the wall closest to the market square replaced with glass and a temperate garden and another bar installed, will start next year.

The four-day food and drink festival will see a range of producers offering their goods in the market square, along with more street food stalls.

There will be an array of street food vendors from across the region, serving up foods from all over the world, from burgers and pizzas, to Armenian and poffertje pancakes.

In addition to the street food options, there will also be food producers selling products such as jams, cakes and cookies, not to mention there will also be several bars and even gin and alcohol producer stalls.

There will also be cooking demonstrations on the new stage in the market hall.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated Darlington Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054