As important to the festive season as tinsel and wrapping paper, the design for this year’s Christmas Market mug has been released.
Every year the limited edition mugs are snapped up in their tens of thousands with visitors to the markets eager to add to their collection.
The mugs are used across each of the market sites and come in both a coffee and gluhwein edition.
Visitors are asked to pay a £3.00 deposit, along with the cost of their drink, and they can choose either to take the cup back to a stallholder to reclaim the deposit or simply take it home with them as a memento.
This year marks 20 years of the UK’s original Christmas Markets that started with only a handful of stalls in St Ann’s Square in 1999.
The mugs will be available – while stocks last – from the opening day of the markets on Friday 8 November until they close on Saturday 21 December (Albert Square open until Sunday 22 December until 4pm).
Cllr Pat Karney, Manchester’s Christmas spokesperson, said:
“When we first introduced our yearly Christmas Market mugs, never could we have predicted just how popular they would become. From the humble drinking vessel comes a festive tradition as important as mistletoe.
“We know people come back year after year to complete their ever-growing collection, it will be with some excitement that we can finally reveal this year’s mugs.”
Check back here for more updates on the Christmas Markets.