Manchester Christmas Markets have been named the best in the UK
Manchester Christmas Markets has topped the table of the best in the UK in 2021.
After the annual Manchester Christmas Markets were sadly cancelled in 2020 – except for the two scaled-down versions which were opened instead to support local independent traders – it won’t be long before those iconic huts are being set up across the city centre once again ready for Friday 12 November.
But before the beloved markets arrive to see in the festive season, they’ve this year been voted among some of the best the county has to offer.
Manchester Christmas Markets – which first took over the city in 1999, and are known to attract around nine million visitors each year – are arguably one of the most popular markets in the country online, with over 114,000 Google searches last year, surpassing the ever-popular Winter Wonderland in London’s Hyde Park – but now they’ve officially been named the best.
Independent holiday cottage agency My Favourite Cottages has analysed all the latest available data to discover the the UK’s Best Christmas Markets to get you into the festive spirit.
The company analysed 30 UK markets against eight data points, which includes things like the number of stalls, the running time of the markets event, the number of visitors, entrance fee, and the likelihood of meeting Santa, all to provide each market with an overall market score out of 10 and therefore finding the best market of those analysed.
Here’s the top 10.
The UK’s Best Christmas Markets 2021
- Manchester Christmas Markets
- Birmingham Christmas Markets
- York Christmas Markets
- Glasgow Christmas Markets
- Bristol Christmas Markets
- Blackpool Winter Gardens Market
- Canterbury Christmas Markets
- Brighton Christmas Festival
- Sheffield Christmas Markets
- Stratford upon Avon Victorian Christmas Market
According to the study, Manchester Christmas Markets ranked highly across all eight factors analysed – including having 300 stalls across the city centre, and running for one of the most prolonged periods of almost six weeks.
It got an overall market score of 8.39 out of 10.
Birmingham’s Christmas Market takes second place with an overall market score of 8 out of 10, and only misses the top spot by a fraction due to the fact is brings in fewer annual visitors (five million) and has fewer market stalls (over 180).
York Christmas Market pinches third place with an overall market score of 6.68 out of 10, followed by Glasgow (6.57) and Bristol (6.47) rounding out the top five spots.
Blackpool and Sheffield are among the other northern hubs in the top 10.
You can find more about the UK’s Best Christmas Markets for 2021 on the My Favourite Cottages website here.
Featured Image – Flickr (Andrew Stawarz)