Don’t ask us when it happens, but there’s a point in life where you favourite place on earth becomes a garden centre.
And garden centres don’t come much fancier than Bents Garden Centre, an enormous sprawl of a building filled with the obvious stuff (like, you know, garden plants) but also so much more.
The Warrington favourite is never more popular than at Christmas, when it turns into a twinkling wonderland and people from across the north west make the pilgrimage.
There are colourful decorations spilling out from every corner, from themed baubles to fairy lights to festive soft furnishings.
Bents Garden Centre does not hold back on its decorating – this year alone there are Alpine dining scenes, a life-size car with presents spilling out of the boot, and an arctic landscape with polar bears and igloos.
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That’s on top of a whole display inspired by an ice cream parlour, and others that take inspiration from woodland and The Grinch.
There’s also a winter food market, where wooden lodges sell everything from Yorkshire pudding wraps to bratwurst sausages to beef brisket sandwiches.
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Inside Bents Garden Centre at Christmas. Credit: The Manc Group
In the outside space there are heated dining globes, decorated with plants, blankets and bunting.
Bents garden centre is so popular, it even had a fairly famous visitor a couple of years ago, when Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury popped in for a day out, documenting the whole thing to her (at the time) 1.7m YouTube subscribers.
She proudly showed off a trolley piled high with food-themed baubles, in the shape of cakes, doughnuts, gingerbread men, candy canes, and even a giant pink lollipop.
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She said: “Don’t ask me why we’ve never come here before. It’s SO cosy.”
Molly-Mae added: “This garden centre, Bents, in I think Warrington, it’s unbelievable. I don’t know why we’ve never come here before.
“It’s kind of like a farm shop too, they’ve got food and food stalls. I am so excited to come back here with a baby next year, like it’s so special.
“It is quite expensive I’m not gonna lie, to get all the decorations and things, but we’ll keep them each year and reuse them.”
Viral Manchester Christmas Markets trader shares apology for ‘below standard’ bakes
Daisy Jackson
One of the most popular traders at the Manchester Christmas Markets has shared a public apology statement after noticing its viral bakes ‘weren’t at the usual standard’.
The Flat Baker, which has been so popular in previous years Manchester City Council had to install a queueing system, thanked customers for their patience.
The bakery is famed for its Brazilian-inspired pastries, with its Christmas Markets offering featuring croissants served in a pot of molten pistachio sauce, and hot chocolates in an edible cookie cup.
But they said that an electrical issue at the stall left their viral croissants ‘cold and without texture’ and the team ended up pulling more than 20 boxes of croissants from sale.
The Flat Baker said they are ‘truly sorry’ to those who were served a croissant that wasn’t their usual standard, and assured fans that their electric warming cabinet is now back up and running, with every croissant ‘fresh, warm, and exactly as it should be’.
The bakery is run by couple Matt and Deb, who recently opened their first proper cafe in Ancoats, just down the road from their original hatch.
They described this as a ‘tough week’ for the business and wrote: “Over the past week, some of you noticed that our croissants at the Christmas Market weren’t quite up to the usual Flat Baker standard, and you were right.
“Unfortunately, due to electrical issues at our stall (managed by the event organisers), our warming cabinet couldn’t be used at all. That meant we couldn’t keep our croissants at their ideal temperature and texture throughout the day – something that’s essential for maintaining the quality we’re known for.
“We honestly didn’t realise how much this would affect the quality until it was too late, and that’s on us. Some of the croissants we served weren’t at our usual standard, and for that, we’re truly sorry.
“Without the warmer, their “shelf life” became much shorter, and they turned cold and lost texture far too quickly. We ended up bringing back over 20 boxes of croissants that we chose not to sell, because serving anything below our best just isn’t who we we are.”
They continued: “And as for those 20 boxes… nothing will go to waste. We’re already turning them into something new, warm, and seriously delicious, you’ll find out soon.
“Thank you for your patience, your understanding, and your continued love for what we do. We’ll always choose quality, honesty, and creativity, even when things don’t go as planned.”
The Flat Baker are back at the Manchester Christmas Markets now, and you can find them at Piccadilly Gardens.
10 new things to check out at the Manchester Christmas Markets for 2025
Daisy Jackson
For the first time in a few years, the Manchester Christmas Markets have been given a big shake-up, with loads of new stuff tempting thousands of visitors into the city centre.
The most notable, of course, is the return of Albert Square to the Christmas Markets circuit, which hasn’t been used for the festivities since the Town Hall restoration began.
It may be a ‘mini’ Christmas Market, with the main hub still at Piccadilly Gardens, but it feels like the spiritual home of the event is back where it belongs.
Beyond that, the hundreds of wooden huts around town are home to new food traders, exciting new bars, and even a brand-new Giant Santa (though he does look awfully familiar…)
Have a read for 10 new things you can check out at the Manchester Christmas Markets in 2025.
The big wheel, Albert Square
Albert Square’s return to the Manchester Christmas Markets is news enough in itself, but for the first time this year you can get way up above the festive celebrations.
A gigantic big wheel is currently standing proudly over Albert Square, with views across all the traders below as well as the rooftops of the city centre and the Manchester Town Hall itself.
As well as that, there are other fairground rides like a helter skelter, carousel, and plenty more.
A new Giant Santa, St Peter’s Square
Zippy, Manchester’s favourite Giant Santa, has made a surprise return
Manchester’s legendary Giant Santa sculpture is back – but you might be surprised to see the bearded fella who’s appeared this year.
Yep, that haunting blue gaze does indeed belong to Zippy, the beloved figure who ruled over Albert Square all the way up until 2018.
This fat lad is officially back in town for another festive season (it’s actually Zippy 2.0, but close enough) and he’s SO bright. Like get your sunglasses ready, because when we say Zippy’s had a glow up, we actually mean he’s lit up with 20,000 LEDs.
Toast-your-own marshmallows, Albert Square
Why has no one done this at the Manchester Christmas Markets before?!
Right in the middle of Albert Square you’ll now find a stand with a roaring campfire in the middle.
You can buy a gigantic skewer of marshmallows, then toast them slowly over the fire for a melty, gooey, nostalgic sweet treat to walk around with.
Feuerzangenbowle (Flaming cocktails), St Ann’s Square
What could possibly be better than a mulled wine at the Manchester Christmas Markets? How about a mulled wine on FIRE?!
Feuerzangenbowle loosely translates to ‘fire-tong punch’ and is a traditional German alcoholic drink, where a rum-soaked sugarloaf is set on fire and drips down into the mulled wine.
Ordering one of these at the Manchester Christmas Markets is a real theatrical moment.
Goulash in a bread bowl, Piccadilly Gardens
Austrian goulash in a bread bowlThe best food and drink at the Manchester Christmas Markets
There’s loads of new food and drink at the Manchester Christmas Markets this year (you can see 10 of them here), but this is the one that immediately caught our eye.
Anyone who’s skied in Austria or visited in the winter will know that goulash is the ultimate winter warmer dinner.
Now imagine that, but instead of a bowl, it’s served inside a hollowed-out bread loaf. Hell yeah.
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There’s also loaded roast potatoes here, including a portion topped with all sorts of traditional Christmas dinner trimmings.
Blitzen’s Brigade, Albert Square
The Blitzen’s Brigade fire engine bar
That fire engine in the middle of Albert Square? The only fires it’s fighting is your desperate craving for a lager.
This brand-new bar in a converted fire engine is serving Reinbeer, Brew-dolph IPA, and prosecco from its main bar in the side of the vehicle.
Then if you head up towards the driver’s cab you can find the mulled wine and hot chocolate window.
Hong Kong French Toast, King Street
This seems to be the food trader that’s caught everyone’s attention this year – and it’s not hard to see why.
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Thick, fluffy white bread is layered with fillings like peanut butter, Nutella, and pistachio cream, before being dipped in egg batter and deep-fried.
They’re then topped with things like condensed milk and miniature pats of butter for the ultimate indulgence that’s worth being on the naughty list for.
Rita’s Reign, Albert Square
This is a spot that’s far-from new to Manchester – Rita’s Reign is one of the best-loved street food operators in the North West and trades from Piccadilly Markets all year round.
But for the first time, they’ve made it onto the Manchester Christmas Markets, with a new colourful trailer serving festive twists on their legendary Afro-Caribbean boxes.
Expect boneless Jerk chicken, curry goat, and vegan bowls, all served with that sunny Rita’s Reign service.
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Roasted Chestnuts, Albert Square
‘Chestnuts roasting on an open fire’ except this, to our knowledge, has never actually been a thing at the Manchester Christmas Markets?!
Well, it is now, and it’s all happening in a delightfully vintage cart lit up with 1920s-esque lightbulbs, where the team here gently toast chestnuts before your very eyes.
It’s handily positioned right at the entrance to Albert Square too, so your festive Spidey senses can get tingling before you’ve even got into the main market.
New bars on King Street
The smart new bar on King Street at the Manchester Christmas Markets
Last but not least, you may notice on your travels that the Manchester Christmas Markets on King Street are looking rather lovely.
That’s largely in part to the brand-new Float bar, which splits into two around a large, covered seating area.
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The smart new bar takes up a lot less pavement which means way more space for mingling over a gluhwein or three. Gorgeous.
Daisy Jackson -
30th November 2024 
