Oxford City Council has launched a Christmas campaign to help promote the Covered Market.

The campaign, which launched yesterday and runs up to Christmas, encourages people to ‘follow the White Rabbit’ into the 18th century building.                                                        

Posters at the entrances to Oxford, including at park and rides and along main roads into the city, will feature the iconic White Rabbit from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and encourages shoppers to visit the Covered Market.    

A trail of rabbit footprints also leads people from Cornmarket Street and High Street into the market, where they will be greeted by a giant white rabbit lantern in the central market square.

Throughout the campaign there will also be activities taking place in the market, including an Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland-themed treasure hunt and a photography competition.

Oxford Mail:

Yesterday, two white rabbit street performers bounced along the rabbit footprints to draw people into the Covered Market.

The aim of the campaign is to encourage more people to explore the Covered Market, and create more of an experience inside the market for those that do.

Oxford Covered Market first opened in 1774 – almost 100 years before the story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was first told by Lewis Carroll on a boat ride through Oxford with Alice Liddell and her sisters.

Oxford Mail:

Councillor Mary Clarkson, Executive Board Member for Culture and City Centre, said: “The Covered Market, with its pink vaulted ceiling, its original shop facades dating from the early 19th century, and its rabbit warren of traditional and modern retailers, already has an incredible wow-factor for tourists and new visitors.   

“But we thought we could add to this in the run-up to Christmas to create more of an experience for those doing their Christmas shopping in Oxford. So, whether it’s buying gifts for loved ones or doing your weekly food shop, follow the White Rabbit… to Oxford’s Covered Market.”