Giving back to the Community and Celebrating Gingerbread Heritage at the Ginger & Spice Festival 2025

Billington’s Gingerbread is thrilled to once again be part of the Ginger & Spice Festival in Market Drayton on Saturday 27th September 2025. As proud local gingerbread makers, we’re delighted to support this much-loved celebration of heritage and community, joining forces with our sister company, Original Biscuit Bakers, who return as headline sponsors on the popular Heritage Gingerbread Trail and Contest. 

Running from 9.30am to 4.30pm, the family-friendly trail and competition will wind through the town centre, celebrating Market Drayton’s rich gingerbread-making heritage. A much-loved highlight of the festival, the trail will feature imaginative gingerbread creations displayed in 47 local businesses – many of whom are also proud sponsors of the event.

The Original Biscuit Bakers Heritage Gingerbread Trail & Contest is a free and family-friendly event, forming part of the Ginger & Spice Festival 2025. Designed to celebrate Market Drayton’s rich culinary heritage, the trail invites festival-goers to explore local shops, attractions and historic sites throughout the town.

Each participating business or organisation will showcase a specially dressed gingerbread character in their window or premises, themed around “Characters from History.” Families are encouraged to follow the trail, discover all the gingerbread characters and vote for their favourite display.

The character with the most public votes will win the People’s Choice Award with also a runner up, while an additional winner and runner up will be chosen by the Mayor of Market Drayton, Councillor Tim Manton, and a special guest judges Nick and Carol Ford from Acton Scott Heritage Farm in Shropshire on Tuesday 23rd September 2025, ensuring a fun and fair celebration of creativity and community spirit.

To incentivise voting participation, a FREE prize draw will take place at the festival. All those who complete the trail form in full and correctly will be entered into the free prize draw. There will be one winner and one runner up in the children’s category and one winner in the adults’ category. The winners will be announced after the festival, week commencing 29th September 2025. If chosen, they could win the following:

Adult: An artisan food and drink hamper

Child: A children’s gingerbread hamper

We (Billington’s Gingerbread and  Original Biscuit Bakers) will also bringing a stall to the spicy artisan market with our delicious hand decorated and iced gingerbread biscuit creations plus heritage biscuits. We’ll also be hosting free of charge gingerbread decorating in the Original Biscuit Bakers children’s crafting area throughout the day.

Gemma Williams, Managing Director of Image On Food, the home of  Original Biscuit Bakers and Billington’s Gingerbread, said:

“We’re proud to support the Ginger & Spice Festival once again, especially the much-loved heritage trail. It’s a brilliant family event that brings Market Drayton’s history to life through food, storytelling, and hands-on experiences. The festival continues to grow in popularity, and we’re delighted to be part of something that celebrates the town’s unique culinary roots.”

Julia Roberts, Festival Director of the Ginger & Spice Festival, said:

“We’re thrilled to once again have Original Biscuit Bakers as the headline sponsor of our much-loved Heritage Gingerbread Trail. Their support is invaluable in helping us celebrate Market Drayton’s unique heritage and bring our creative vision to life. The trail has become a firm family favourite, and this year we’re excited to see the imaginative gingerbread window displays dressed to the brilliant theme ‘Characters from history’. We are also grateful for their support of the children’s crafting area which enables us to offer free of charge activities for the community to enjoy.”

To view the list of trail sponsors please visit the website and see the heritage trail page here:

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Images of the sponsors and organisations with their gingerbread character pre-decorations are here to view:

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Gingerbread Heritage Trail Maps can be picked up from the trail station on the high street being run by volunteers Jane Moore and Julie Pryce from 9.30am on Saturday 27th September. They will also be displaying their collection of Gingerbread memorabilia that they have collected over the years.

Jane Moore and Julie Pryce said:

“We’re delighted to once again be running the Gingerbread Heritage Trail at this year’s Ginger & Spice Festival. It’s always such a joy to see so many families taking part, with children spotting the wonderful gingerbread characters in shop and business windows right across our lovely town. The whole community gets involved, which makes the trail really special. We also look forward to sharing our growing collection of Market Drayton gingerbread memorabilia on our stall—it’s a tradition we’re proud to celebrate as an important part of our town’s heritage.”

We’re proud to be part of this celebration of creativity, community, and culinary heritage – and we hope to see you there!