Only A Fortnight Left of Manchester's World Famous Christmas Markets

Hailed by traders as the busiest markets to date, visitors only have two more weeks to get their festive fill of the Christmas Markets at the heart of the UK's Christmas capital.

Helped along by clear, seasonal weather the warming gluhweins and bratwursts have been snapped up at speeds never seen before.

90,000 thousand of the coveted market mugs have already gone with shoppers forgoing their £2 deposit to take their mug home with them. Recent years have seen the Manchester Christmas Market mugs become an incredibly popular feature of the markets with more and more of the collectible cups needed to keep up with the ever-increasing demand.

As per usual, Bratwurst sales are kept under lock and key by traders, but as one of the most enduringly popular Christmas Market products, tens of thousands have been munched already!

This weekend the Christmas Markets brought footfall of more than 275,000 to the city centre after a week of retail success which kicked off with last weekend’s Black Friday.

The increasingly popular bargain sale day saw massive increases in footfall in the past week, with some Manchester Arndale stores reporting visitor numbers up 100 per cent on the previous year at the beginning of December.

The two new sites – Market Street and Cathedral Gardens – have proven to be popular with visitors who are eager to experience everything the Christmas Markets can offer.

Particularly Cathedral Gardens have become a popular destination for families and young people with the recent addition of the fun fair – with rides for all ages – and a more relaxed atmosphere than some of the other hustling and bustling market sites.

Cathedral Gardens is also a popular stop-off point for tourists being in the shadow of the historic, medieval Manchester Cathedral and sandwiched by the ultra-modern National Football Museum – as well as being the natural gateway to Victoria Station. 

Manchester's iconic Santa has exploded on the twitter scene this year. He'll continue to tweet his Christmas messages throughout December and has handed  out some fantastic Christmas prizes. Follow him @MCRSanta.

Keen eyed shoppers may also have spotted the charity Christmas trees under the Giant Santa in Albert Square and in the centre of Exchange Square. The “Wishing Trees”, brought to the markets by Mango-Rays mulled wine stall, offer visitors a single Christmas wish.

Over £1,000 has already been collected, with all donations split between Macmillan Cancer Support, the Born Again Children’s Home in Ukunda, Kenya, and the British Red Cross ebola fund.

Manchester is regarded as the Christmas capital of the UK for good reason and the festive season can be found throughout the city centre. 

Santa's Grotto in the Manchester Arndale - a favourite of kid and big kids alike - will remain open right up until Christmas Eve; and for the even bigger kids, the Ice Rink in Spinningfields with their pop-up bars will be open until Sunday, 4 January.

Manchester's Christmas spokesperson, Councillor Pat Karney, said: “I’m always blown away by how popular our Christmas Markets are in Manchester and with the clear, winter weather the atmosphere has been like Lapland. 

“Some people, like myself, prefer to enjoy the Christmas Markets with fewer people so I’d suggest Cathedral Gardens or Exchange Square where you’ll find the much loved ambiance of the busier sites without the hustle and bustle.

“For anyone who has yet to experience this year’s festivities, you still have two weeks to stock up on Christmas spirit and tick off a few more names on your Christmas list. See you there.”