The Frome Independent, the Sunday market that fills Frome's high street

On the first Sunday of the month, from March to December, The Frome Independent fills Frome's high street with more than 250 traders, live music, DJs, street performers and workshops, and it costs nothing to come. The market calls itself "more than a market", and its own site lists the dates.

What's on the street

It's laid out in six sections: designer-makers, a vintage flea market, homes and gardens, street food, food producers chosen by Somerset Farmers Markets, and suitcase traders, for design start-ups finding their feet. It's run by The Frome Independent Ltd, a kind of not-for-profit company. And the idea has spread: Shepton Mallet's newer Sunday market is managed by someone who ran the market that became this one.

How many people come is less clear. The About page says more than 80,000 visitors a year, and the trader page says around 60,000. I won't pick between them, and for a shop on the route, either is a lot of people.

If you'd like a stall

It's choosy and competitive, and it avoids having two traders selling much the same thing, so visit first and see who's already there. It takes bookings up to three months ahead, and the trader page has the criteria, the pitch sizes and the prices.

For the shops along the route

For a shop on the market's route, that Sunday can be the busiest day of the month, as long as the door is open. Put the dates in the diary a year ahead, and make sure your Sunday opening times show up on Google for anyone checking their phone on market morning.

The bigger prize is the visitor who liked you on market Sunday and looks you up later, because what they find then decides whether they come back. Castle Cary's Tuesday market puts its shops through the weekly version of the same test.

If that's the part you'd like help with, our marketing for businesses in Somerset page sets out how we work locally.