Some thoughts on Christmas Markets/Fairs/Fayres

Oh look, another Christmas market! Yes, I know it’s December but is it just me or is there practically a Christmas market or fair (or even fayre if you're posh) around every corner these days? When I started looking at my diary this week I realised there was the option to go to a nearby Christmas market pretty much every day, some days more than one event and it got me to thinking why they’ve become so ubiquitous and whether there’s an argument that there’s only such much festive charm we can cope with.

This was initially supposed to be a subject for my weekly Notes from Readymoney Cove newsletter (click here if you’d like to sign up) but I quickly realised that I had far too much to say – something which won’t surprise anyone who knows me - on the subject and a blog post was required.

Many years back when my now 17 year old was a baby, we went to Munich Christmas Market for the weekend. It was flipping freezing and we slid our son’s pushchair inexpertly through the snow to drink glühwein, eat Lebkuchen and Bratwurst. We explored the Alpine style wooden cabins and bought some beautiful traditional German Christmas decorations which we still treasure at home now. But these days every school hall, church, community centre, farm shop or café seems to host a Christmas market and you can hardly cross a high street for rows of open fronted garden sheds selling spiced rum, handmade jewellery, candles and sadly in quite a few cases, complete and utter tat.

On a personal level, as a small business owner here in beautiful Fowey on the south Cornish coast, I actually owe a lot to a Christmas market. When we moved to Fowey (from Cambridge) in 2015 I had just left my 15 year career as a solicitor to become a stay at home mum. My youngest son was only 18 months old but turns out I’m not very good at the “stay at home” bit so I quickly joined a community group helping with the organisation of the Fowey Christmas Market.  

Small acorns and all that but a casual idea to run a pop up summer tuck shop at Readymoney Cove to raise money for a new set of Christmas lights for the town snowballed into the beach shop you see today and for that I will forever be (mostly ha ha) grateful. From wallpapering table with camping stove to fully functioning coffee and gift shop, I do still pinch myself from time to time.

Anyway, for that reason, the Fowey Christmas Market has always been close to my heart and after a stint as Co Chair of the Fowey Chamber of Commerce (yes, I am one of those people who always finds themselves on a committee) I became quite heavily involved in the organisation of the Fowey Christmas Market weekend for some years so have seen what can go into organising these events, particularly in a place like Fowey where the logistics presented by the layout of our quirky Cornish coastal town are let’s say, “challenging”.

Christmas Markets do come and go and the Covid years certainly impacted. Padstow Christmas Market was a hugely popular event which people would travel  from miles to visit but fell into difficulties after having to charge an entrance fee to cover rising costs. Rising costs haven’t escaped any business owner or average everyday consumer, perhaps this is why Christmas markets have become so popular, they feel like a great opportunity to connect with stallholders and experience a different way of shopping. But at what cost?

It dawned on me as I was pondering all this that maybe, what the addition of numerous Christmas markets does is dilute the arguably ever shrinking spending pot which is so critical to small independent high streets at Christmas. Small businesses which are open all year, paying business rates and commercial rents and in many cases, buying goods in at wholesale prices from suppliers. So when those suppliers are targeting customers direct by holding their own stalls at Christmas markets what does that do to the trade of the shops? Also, just think, every visitor who buys a cup of mulled wine and a hotdog from a wooden cabin is a customer is then isn't buying from the menu of the café working hard all year round.

The flip side of that is sheer volume of visitors such events can bring in. Let's face it, winter is cold & wet and anything which brings a bit of festive cheer has got to be a positive. I have no doubt that many businesses in places like Bath and Exeter benefit from the huge number of people who come specifically to visit the Christmas markets. People who stay in the hotels, eat in the restaurants and will inevitably also browse the bricks & mortar shops on the high streets.

This is certainly the case here in Fowey. If there was no Christmas market weekend in Fowey it would just be another cold, often wet, winter weekend with limited footfall, Christmas Market Weekend is akin to August’s Regatta Week when you can hardly walk through the streets and that does come with its plus sides. My beach shop at Readymoney Cove is a 10 minute walk out of the town centre but assuming the weather is on side, really benefits from the additional footfall in the centre town as many of those visitors come for a long weekend and make the most of all that Fowey has to offer.

So what is the future for the phenomenon which has become so big outside Germany? Here in Cornwall I’ve definitely seen a shift in recent years to more of an artisan makers market – The Makers Market fair held at Falmouth Uni each year is a brilliant example – and it feels like markets are becoming more of an all encompassing experience than just a new temporary place to shop.

More workshops, more craft demonstrations, more choirs singing, more things to enjoy and do whilst soaking up the festive atmosphere without such a consumerist focus on buy buy buy. But it is Christmas after all, isn’t buy buy buy what it’s all about? Caveat: I know that's actually not what Christmas is all about but I'm coming at this from the perspective of a retailer? Or is the Christmas market bubble about to burst due to over saturation?

I’d love to know your thoughts, do you enjoy a Christmas market and see them as a great way to get your Christmas shopping done whilst enjoying some festive fun with the family or feel they've lost their shine? Comment below or drop me an email, let’s continue the discussion.