In pretty all movies that I can think of, middle-age villages and townships are full of people, animals, children running around, voices and screams. However when I travel in nowadays European villages, I'll be lucky to see a soul.
This begs the question, how (really) busy were the villages, be it during market days. Would a realistic depiction of a township during middle ages be more silent and oppressive, and is there a reliable source about that ?
Followup: Often these markets (in film) would have stalls that displayed a ton of food; 10s of cooked chickens and pigs and baskets of fruit -- was this common? I feel food would spoil quickly in that age if just left in the open air on display.
Perhaps a way to reconsider your premise:
European towns and sometimes even villages are often, to this day, very lively and busy on market days. And even more so during fairs, Christmas markets and on special occasions.