insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 21 - November 2016 | Page 80

CHRISTMAS

Get into the festive spirit

CHRISTMAS MARKETS:
THE UK AND BEYOND
There is, quite possibly, nothing else on earth that is as festive feeling as a proper
Christmas market. Europe does them particularly well, but you can find them in America,
Canada and the UK too. Each one has its own unique aspects, but each one offers
gorgeous gifts and a lot of Christmas spirit thrown in for good measure.

If you’re tired of the high street and bored of ordering the same old things
online, why not try a Christmas market instead? You’ll find a whole range
of lovely gifts from food and drink to clothing and toys to handmade
decorations and much more besides. Plus you’ll have the bonus of feeling
hugely festive, and maybe even indulging in a bit of mulled wine and some
Christmas cookies as you wander ‘round…

the market to pop into the church while they were there. It didn’t always
work, and soon the markets outgrew the small spaces they had, which
meant that they often had to move away from the church after all. The
priests were rather glad of this when the move came – the markets were
so enticing that the churches were usually left emptier than ever!
In the UK, Christmas markets were held just as they were in Europe, only
generally on a much smaller scale. They were popular, but of course they
were banned once Oliver Cromwell came to power. They disappeared
overnight, and didn’t really return until the Victorian period, when Christmas
became a much more Germanic tradition.

Christmas markets seem to have begun in Germany, which might explain
why the German markets are some of the best in the world. By the 17th
century, the traditional annual visit to the local Christmas market had become
the norm, and gift buying was a looked-forward-to event. It was a chance
to meet up with old friends, enjoy some local delicacies, and buy Christmas
presents at the same time. The markets always used to be held around the
town’s church, and the idea was that this would encourage those attending

We’ve put together a list of the some of the very best Christmas markets
in the UK and beyond. Now it’s just a choice of which one to visit!

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