08 August 2023 , 09:36
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A huge Christmas market is set to open in a UK town in just a few weeks' time.
The German Christmas Market at Meadow Croft Garden Centre in Battlesbridge, Essex is famous for being the very first to launch in the UK each year.
Stalls will start appearing next month on September 14 - a whole 102 days before Christmas Day. It comes way ahead of most Christmas markets in the UK, which open their doors in November.
The market will be free to enter and will have a collection of 30 stalls full of artisan goods perfect for the festive season.
The market will be free to enter and will have a collection of 30 stalls full of artisan goods (EssexLive)The stalls themselves are handcrafted by owner Roland Smith, and potential gifts to buy include carved wooden decorations, traditional cuckoo clocks, and Scandinavian gonks, according to EssexLive. All the products are made by local craftsmen. Visitors can also enjoy refreshments, with popular German foods like frankfurters, sauerkraut, waffles, apple strudel, and schokokusse (chocolate kisses) available to buy. German bottled beers and mulled wine will also be available to quench any shopper's thirst.
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The market also plays traditional music from the country, and is set up to look like you are walking around the streets of a real German town market. It is open seven days a week between 9am and 5pm Monday to Saturday, and between 10am and 4pm on Sundays. Hot food is served between 10am and 4pm, except Sundays where service ends at 3pm. Entry is free and there is also a free car park at the site.
Some of the most popular Christmas markets in the UK include Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, Edinburgh Christmas Market, Leeds Winter Market, and Manchester Christmas Market. After opening in early-to-mid November, most remain open for trade until December 31, or the first week of the new year. German-style Christmas markets first arrived in the UK in the 1980s, and began to grow in popularity in cities across the UK after successfully launching in Birmingham in 1997.
Hazel Crowe, Marketing Coordinator at Meadow Croft Garden Centre said: "Our German Market was established in 2015, and is increasingly popular amongst visitors. Each year we have thousands of visitors from Essex and beyond and we have found that customers like to enjoy the market in a more relaxed environment rather than a busy, crowded market so we find that opening mid September spreads out the footfall nicely. It also gives our customers the chance to spread out their Christmas spend over the course of a few months rather than weeks."