We nicked our best ideas from Europe – that’s why Manchester Christmas Markets are so magical

“Rather than acting like sentient, gaping Pacmen joylessly hoovering up matter, perhaps we should get into the spirit of things.”

Each Christmas, we dust off a little wooden candleholder depicting three choir boys and two Christmas trees and position it on the windowsill. Carved in East Germany, it is stamped with the letters ‘GDR’ – German Democratic Republic.

When my mum bought it from a little shop in Didsbury the Berlin Wall had not yet come down and Manchester’s Christmas Markets had not yet begun – so it was rare to find something like this here in the UK. Since then, the festive markets have become not only a standard feature of Christmas for Mancunians, but a huge tourist attraction drawing millions to the city each year.

In 2025 it has “beaten all records” according to the council, with 1.4million journeys made into Manchester city centre on the weekend of December 6 and 7. But when it started out in 1998 as a collaboration with the city of Frankfurt, there were just 16 little stalls on St Ann’s Square selling things we had never seen before.

In fact Manchester’s longest standing Christmas Market trader Anja Manke says people were so perplexed at watching glühwein being ladled from urns, they assumed it was soup. The following year, the Germans brought us bratwurst. That delicacy may be a fixture here these days, but in the days before you could fly to Germany for less than £100, it was positively exotic.

In the three decades since, the markets have expanded to become the biggest in the UK with more than 200 stalls across ten locations. Over the years we’ve been treated to culinary treats from Spain, France, Greece, Germany, Austria, Italy, Portugal and many more countries.

We’ve indulged in mustard chicken, schnitzel, strudel, paella and Hong Kong French toast. And of course, we’ve been introduced to the revolutionary Yorkshire pudding wrap.

The pandemic changed things quite considerably as European traders were unable to fly over. And the majority of traders at the Manchester Christmas Markets are now local or North West-based.

But the spirit of the Continent still permeates. As Manchester Council’s ‘Mr Christmas’ himself Pat Karney says “we nicked our best ideas from Germany and Europe”.

In recent years people have complained that the markets are too expensive, too samey, too in the way of their direct path to the bus station. I know they’re not everybody’s cup of tea, but having visited towns where the high streets are dying, I personally think we’re lucky to have them.

Rather than acting like sentient, gaping Pacmen joylessly hoovering up matter, perhaps we should get into the spirit of things. Even if your budget won’t stretch to the, admittedly pricey £5.50 for a mug of glühwein, don’t forget that the festive atmosphere is entirely free.

If they were gone, I would sorely miss heading into town to gaze at the twinkly lights on the wooden huts, listen to the music, wave at Zippy and make infantile jokes about sausages. And this year it’s been a particular joy to see Albert Square lit up and buzzing once again.

When my son was born a couple of years ago, his uncle bought him a little mobile from the Christmas market outside his home in Berlin. We will hang it up each year and light the candles on the German candleholder – annual reminders of the festive cheer the Europeans have brought to Manchester.

At Christmas especially, that’s something worth remembering.