Castlebar's Fairtrade town status celebrations begin with a Christmas Fairtrade fair .

Saturday the 16^th of December marks the beginning of the celebrations of Castlebar receiving Fairtrade town status. A fairtrade fair will be held in the Christian Fellowship church on the Mall from noon until 5pm.  Local shops will be selling fairtrade produce ranging from chocolates and rice to CDs and scarves. Fairtrade refreshments and goodies will be served to all visitors and there will be face painting and colouring competitions for the children. There will also be a raffle of tasty Fairtrade goods sponsored by Castlebars Fairtrade outlets.

Achieving this status is important for Castlebar as it proves that the people of Castlebar shop with open eyes and care for the people and world around them by choosing to buy products that guarantee a better deal for third world producers. The Fairtrade mark ensures that the producers of our everyday goods such as tea, coffee, sugar, fruit receive an agreed price for their produce, often double that paid by multinational companies. It also guarantees safe working conditions including no child labour and no dangerous chemical use, which for example in the banana trade has caused infertility in many workers.

The official launch of Castlebar as a Fairtrade town will be held in January and celebrations will be held in conjunction with the Westport Fairtrade town committee, who are also to receive Fairtrade status this December.

The Castlebar Fairtrade town committee would like to thank Castlebar town Council and all the businesses, schools, organisations, shops and cafes for their involvement in helping fulfil the criteria in becoming a Fairtrade town. And most importantly we would like to that the public for demanding the right to shop ethically in their town.

For more information contact castlebarfairtradetown@gmail.com or 087 9745984   and for further information on fairtrade contact www.fairtrade.ie .