Manchester Christmas Markets has gone micro for 2020.
In what can only be described as incredibly welcome news given the current tier 3 doom and gloom, Manchester City Council has confirmed that two mini markets will go ahead this Christmas, giving the city a little festive cheer in absence of our usual, city-wide festivities.
Kicking off this week and resembling the markets that are held all year round at both Piccadilly Gardens and St. Anne’s Square, the markets will see a number of local fave traders return for the Christmas period, including Porky Pig and their famous Yorkshire pudding wraps.
Consisting of local traders who’ll be selling a variety of festive-themed goods – including food and gifts – the socially distant markets will welcome locals to do a bit of Christmas shopping while supporting a small business, with one-way traffic systems and limits on the number of people who can access the stalls at one time.
Cllr Pat Karney, Manchester’s Christmas spokesperson, said: “We know people were so disappointed to hear this year’s Christmas Markets could not go ahead. Public safety must be at the heart of everything we do, and we could not put on our usual world-class event while keeping people safe.
“Since then, we have been looking at ways of supporting the Christmas traders at an important time of year for their businesses, while also attracting people to the city centre in a safe an manageable way.
“Our Winter Markets have attracted some of the city’s – and region’s – top makers and traders, who provide a real alternative to the high street.”
Here’s the full Christmas schedule:
Piccadilly Gardens: open daily now from 10.30am til 7pm until December 23rd.
St Anne’s Square: 9th-13th December and 16-20th December from 10.30am til 7pm.
St Anne’s Square traders will include Porky Pig, Eat Greek, Elsie May’s gooey cookie dough, traditional Christmas market pancakes, German bratwurst and Mango Rays burritos.
Piccadilly Garden’s traders will include The Crusty Pie Company, The Great British Cheese Company, Peaky Blinders spirits and a number of clothing and gift traders, too.