Market Makes Us
Market Makes Us is a community arts project celebrating Bicester's historic Friday Market and the people, stories and creativity that keep it part of the town today.
Working with local residents, market visitors and schools, we invited people to explore what the market means to them and contribute their ideas to a colourful shared piece of work for Bicester.
Taking Creativity To The Market
We began where better than the market itself.
Bumble Creatives set up a creative stall at Bicester Friday Market, inviting shoppers, traders and passers-by to stop, make and contribute. Around 80 bags and 100 badges were created as part of the activity, giving people something to take away while opening up conversations about the market and its place in the town.
The project then travelled into four local schools, giving children and young people an opportunity to contribute their own ideas and designs.
Rather than creating public art for the community, we wanted the community to be part of creating it.
Details
PROJECT: Market Makes Us
WHERE: Bicester Town Centre & local schools
WHEN: Summer 2026
COMMUNITY: Market traders, residents & 4 local schools
CREATED: 80 bags + 100 badges
LEGACY: 4 large festival flags and a new logo
FUNDED BY: Cherwell District Council & Bicester Friday Market Traders
From Ideas to Public Art
The contributions gathered through the project are now helping inspire the design of two large-scale flags for Bicester.
The finished flags will bring together ideas generated through the community and school workshops, creating something bold, playful and visible that reflects the people who use and experience the town.
It's a lovely example of how small creative interactions — making a badge, decorating a bag, sharing an idea or drawing something — can become part of something much bigger.
Creativity, Place & Belonging
Market Makes Us is about more than making artwork.
Projects like this give people an opportunity to participate in the life of their town, connect with its identity and see their own ideas reflected in the places around them.
That approach is an important part of the wider B Hive vision: taking creativity out into Bicester, working alongside communities and partners, and using the arts to create opportunities for connection, participation and a stronger sense of belonging.
Working in Partnership
Market Makes Us is funded by Cherwell District Council and Bicester Friday Market Traders, supporting Bumble Creatives to work with local schools, market visitors, traders and the wider Bicester community to bring the project to life.
The project celebrates the market not simply as somewhere to shop, but as part of Bicester's community life — shaped by the people who trade there, visit it and share the town.
