To not get the hype around the average UK Christmas market?

[Xenapo]

So I'm not a scrooge and enjoy a family Christmas, although I do think the whole thing is ridiculously commercialised.

But I've been to the Manchester Christmas market a few times over the years and just don't get the hype.

It's very crowded, overpriced, lots of stores selling very similar things, never anywhere to sit and a lot of the stuff sold there just seems like pointless tat. A friend would suggest going then we'd spend ages queuing to pay extortionate prices for small bit of novelty food to eat standing up in the cold. Could never see the appeal myself and probably won't go this year.

I know there's other markets out there so maybe some are better examples in the UK that are worth a visit.

I imagine some of the original German ones must be quite spectacular and have a lot of interesting history behind them as they started them there many hundreds of years ago.

I looked up when most of the UK ones started and looks like 90s and 00s (they didn't have them when I was little) so I guess we've tried to import it here to different UK cities with varying degrees of success.

My favourite is my DS's SEN school Christmas Market and it starts the holidays off for me every year.

They are a registered charity so the funds are all ploughed back into the school (currently raising for an upgrade to the sensory playground)

Loads of stalls with all items made by the kids themselves as well as raffles, tombola's etc.

Santa is there as well as real reindeer and the £3 entry fee includes a hot turkey bap with stuffing and cranberry sauce and a drink - absolute bargain!

It's perfect if your DC's have additional needs as it is all totally geared towards that, including the santa visit, you will feel completely at home, rather than at a regular NT event

It's on the 1st of Dec this year so if anyone wants the details - we are in Cheshire, just PM me.

The first Christmas market I ever went to was in Germany. It was amazing and I loved it. This was around 1994. I have never found the UK ones any good. They are all mostly tat and very overpriced.

I am off to Chatesworth Christmas market in a couple of weeks and hoping for it to be better. Chatesworth is only ever November and finishes 23 November for some reason.

Ten years ago my local town used to close the town centre to traffic and have a Christmas market on every Sunday. It was really good, 50-60 stalls

Gradually over time I noticed that the stalls were less and less to do with Christmas and it just turned into a market, nearly every stall was selling old tat

It will be on this year but we don't bother anymore

Whilst you can buy half the stuff on Ali Express for under half the price I’ll enjoy them for what they are. Maybe pick up something but mainly feel a bit Christmassy and get a mulled wine for us and a hot chocolate for the kids, maybe a not berry German bratwurst too. Defiantly not going with the intention of doing my Christmas shopping. If we don’t get round to going then fine.

I agree. I’ve only been to the Manchester one but it is far too busy. You have to queue for ages for anything and you can’t walk anywhere as it is so crowded. I’ve been a few times but not in years as it’s just hard work.

Agree. Overpriced tat and confection.So disappointing.

I used to work in Bath and I dreaded Christmas market time. So crowded and smelly. Some interesting stands but majority awful overpriced tat.

This sounds wonderful.

Agreed. It’s all junk food stalls

But then you’re paying a fortune on fares and probably accommodation so it becomes a different thing 😔

@mondaytosunday we were disappointed with the Winchester one, but I think that might be because it was so much smaller than Bath which we’d been to several times. Winchester is a lovely setting as it’s next to the cathedral, but it’s not a full day out - we got round it very quickly. We’re going to the Bath one on a Monday this year in the hope it’ll be quieter!

YANBU - I used to live in Germany, it’s very different, busy of course but not nearly so crowded in my experience I think because literally every little town has a market so you don’t get people from miles away flocking to one place. And they don’t finish two weeks before it’s actually Christmas! It’s a very different atmosphere. Overpriced no doubt but not to the extent it is here (everything in the UK is overpriced - Germans wouldn’t put up with it I think 😄) better quality food, it’s hard to put your finger on it but it’s just different.
But we have to make do with what we’ve got - I’m glad Christmas markets have picked up here as I really missed them when I came back to the UK! Maybe in a few more years we’ll get it right, it just takes some practice.

Manchester just had weird stuff for sale last time we went. Can't even think what there was but my boys enjoyed a waffle and chips and I had a mulled wine. We may give it a swerve this year and do something smaller

@GnomeDePlume It is and for such a worthwhile cause too.

The school choir are also there singing and signing carols and Christmas songs.

It's such a lovely, happy inclusive atmosphere.

Highight of my Christmas tbh!

We quite like the Birmingham one. It is very big and crowded but it does have a great atmosphere. We usually pop in a couple of times over Nov/Dec when we are in Brum anyway for a show or shopping. Kids like the ice skating, singing moose and the big sausages! Agree with pp’s that Worcester one is nice too. Went to Bath a few years ago and I wasn’t keen on that one.

They always seem better than they are, we think Christmas and think of beautifully decorated trees, twinkly lights, the warm fuzzy feeling of mulled wine, wrapped up warm etc. However in reality, its overcrowded, lots of squeezing past people to pay for over priced food and drink, never buying any merchandise because again, it's over priced and then queuing ages for a wee in porta loo that's make you lose faith in humanity!

The Oxford one is just a few stalls in a nice setting, it's extremely low key so therefore less disappointing. I'd like to experience a German one. But given that we don't do presents for adults any more it's really a question of whether I personally want more stuff, and the answer is almost always no. So I need a market with atmosphere if I'm going to go.

Yanbu

ive walked round Christmas shopping in southampton during the day on the odd occasion but agree that virtually all of them sell the same stuff and most of it not very good

with ds1 and partner living close to the city and ds2 at uni there we met up as a family there last year, we walked round for 10 minutes, had something to eat (ds1 partner had a roast dinner wrap that was honestly amazing, the others looked disappointed with their hotdogs 😀) and spent the rest of the time in the outdoor bar listening to the singer and dj

it was a lovely evening and i really wanted to do it again but the german market isn’t going to be there this year….its probably for the best, it would most likely be disappointing after last year 😀

ive got some lovely photos of my young adult children all hugging (sober!) and having a laugh….i really want to show you 🥺

but i know nobody cares and my children would be mortified 😀😀😀

Basically it was only german cos it was in log cabins…probably wasnt even wood 😩

Sounds bad of me fixating on one thing…..but did it have an outdoor bar with music?

I’ve been to Hyde Park. It was OK as a day out for the kids, but definitely no match for the German market I went to. It helped that it snowed though. I really think the weather has a lot to do with it! But the whole atmosphere was just much more Christmassy.

I agree that you should try smaller ones in the UK. We’ve been to St Albans and I think Canterbury years ago. St Albans was OK, but it was too warm!

Thanks.
May try Haddon.

I went to the Manchester markets a few years ago with DD when she was about 14. It was full of people getting pissed, horribly overcrowded and felt a bit intimidating. We hardly saw anything and bought nothing.

I prefer smaller local markets or Christmas food festivals. They tend to have less commercial items and support local businesses. Unfortunately they seem to have suffered a bit after crappy Covid but I’m hoping they will start up again in the next few years.

the weird thing is people still go there, despite telling me every year "it's over priced, too busy and a bit shit.... but we're going anyway...because you've just got to, haven't you??"

errr....

What's the difference with the German ones that people are recommending?