Address Queen's Crescent Goods sold General goods | Environment Outdoor Days normally open Thursday, Saturday | |
 | ||
Location Kentish Town, Camden, Greater London Management Camden London Borough Council Owner Camden London Borough Council | ||
Dancing man in queen s crescent market kentish town london
Queen's Crescent Market is one of London's oldest street markets, and is still held every Thursday and Saturday on Queen's Crescent in Kentish Town, Camden. The market sells food, discounted clothing and a wide variety of household products. It has capacity for more than 90 stalls.
Many traders run stalls that have been passed from generation to generation. This is in contrast to the nearby and considerably more famous Camden markets, which primarily attract tourists and those from other parts of London (Inverness Street Market was a traditional produce market in Camden Town for a century, but in 2013 the last produce stall closed, leaving only tourist stalls like the other Camden markets). Aesthetically Queen's Crescent market is a mixture, with pretty plain white houses sitting side by side with large council estates, some of which sit in beautifully landscaped grounds.
The market had been run by Camden Council until 2013, when it was transferred to Queen's Crescent Community Association (QCCA), a not-for-profit charity. In 2015 there were disagreements over the cost of rubbish removal, cleaning and repairs, leaving the QCCA with what it called impossible bills; after negotiations collapsed, the QCCA handing back the market's management to the council.
As of the end of 2015 the future of the market was in doubt, with comments that the council had "condemned Queen's Crescent Market to a lingering death". Traders, and customers, were abandoning the market.
In May 2016 the market continued, but was much reduced, with traders reduced from 50 a few years earlier to 22. The decline has been blamed on higher charges by the council.