WCQ Crafts Market

The vision for Waterford Cultural Quarter (WCQ) is “to deliver inclusive and sustainable innovation and growth for the cultural and creative sectors of southeast Ireland; to become a distinctive and engaging place to the heart of Waterford which is open, inspiring and a vital addition to the city’s creative, knowledge and visitor economy”.

The main aim of the WCQ Markets is to bring together the diverse local community in Waterford, to give them the opportunity to participate in a specifically designated weekend crafts market.

The market is for locally produced crafts & food, giving waterford crafters and makers a space to showcase their products.

It runs every week during the summer months and runs for the six-week duration of the Winterval festival, which gives a significant boost in revenue to the crafters at this time of year, providing them with an opportunity to sell their products to the 600,000 visitors who attend the festival.

The market was developed as collaborative project between Waterford Council, Waterford Cultural Quarter, SETU – School of Architecture, the Irish Architecture Foundation’s Reimagine Programme and Waterford Area Partnership. It was developed through a design thinking process, where several rounds of public consultation fed into the final design.

Continuing development of WCQ

The Irish Government’s Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) aims to deliver more compact and sustainable development. It does this by part-funding regeneration and rejuvenation projects.

In 2021 Waterford City and County Council was granted €27 million for city centre regeneration, with a focus on the area of Waterford Cultural Quarter (O’Connell Street and surrounds). The regeneration funding is being used to renovate several vacant and under used buildings for purposes such as WCQ Place Community and Cultural Hub, Scéal Smart City development and Thomas Street “Art Houses” and city pocket park.

The funding will bring about improvements in public realm and supports the aim of this city area to strengthen festival and arts activities on city streets.