Liverpool Christmas Market 2021 - one of the best ever

One would have thought that Christmas Markets have been here for a long, long time. It depends on how do you count it - in Liverpool, the pre-holiday season street market started only in 2006. If you were born in the 2000's this has been run for your entire life. That's long.

Entering the Liverpool Christmas Market from the north entrance of William Brown Street, on your right is the kids village, and what fun can you find there, even if you are not one anymore! 

It is all displayed around the Steble Fountain which - to our nice surprise - came alive. Not in full potent glory but the water is still running abundantly through the lower parts and you can enjoy the Neptune and mermaids having a proper bath. 

The whole area of Santa's Village is filled with a variety of gorgeous, entertaining activities for kids: merry-go-rounds, bounty castle or a trampoline, slides, and a huge Bavarian-style snow slide. A paradise for kids, small and big, a fun for the whole family. And this is only the beginning. 

For the adult-style festive entertainment you can't' miss the iconic Windmill Bar. 

Grab your drink and head upstairs to enjoy the view over the big part of the market.

Along the festive route you can spot loads of festive-themed figures that add to the festive mood, and a few spots that you can get your memorable Instagram-photos.

So many of them - this adds to the joyful atmosphere of the market, certainly. 

The focal point of the market is of course the Big Wheel, seen from Lime Street station, inviting all passengers and passers-by with its glowing colours against the night sky.

The other, less visible but equally joyful focal point of every Christmas Market (at least where winter is present) is of course festive hot drink, and one of the must-haves is mulled wine. It can get you nicely looped - as on the Wheel ;)

The Christmas Market tradition dates back to the 13th century in the German speaking territories of central Europe; it got round more around 16th century, becoming an integral part of the Christmas celebrations for decades in the Northern Europe.

So good to see the English speaking land has embraced it finally - as with the English practice - slowly to adopt but surely taking the best out of it :)

It has been only during the 1990s that the idea had slowly spread across the cities and towns of England, as mentioned above, Liverpool first Christmas Market opened only in 2006.

There is one main rule to every Christmas Market - a variety of independent open-air stalls offering a variety of products - from sweets to personal gifts. 

Next to the Big Wheel you can immerse yourself in the Alpine atmosphere, feel like skiing in the Alps by visiting the Ski Bar.

The German grilled sausage tradition has been backed up by the English pork scratches specialty :)

Plenty of souvenirs, gifts, decorations, paintings - all can be admired and acquired.

Cheese is essential to pizza; as we know there are people who are cheesoholics so the great range of Great British Cheese will certainly satisfy many, as well as the great range of topping sauces. 

Christmas lights everywhere. Quite a good selection of international and regional cuisine, a very friendly atmosphere, feasting together in the Tepee Tent Bar or trying your luck winning one of those cuddly softies.

The market is organised by Liverpool City Council Culture department, in partnership with Clarke Events, a company that helps to operate similar events for many other local authorities. 

Going back to food, that is probably the most enjoyable thing to experience at the Christmas Market, we were quite positively surprised to see the longest que to the Dobra Kitchen stall.

With Polish specialities such as "bigos" or fried potatoes, really delicious street food, we were happy to see this huge interests ( being Polish ourselves). However we were also keen to try some more exotic tastes.    

Without a doubt, it has been the best Christmas Market in Liverpool we have experienced for many years, a very unique and successful feel. We all deserved it, after the doom mood of the last year.

The market runs until 23 December, with over 40 stalls, festive rides and twinkly lights. It has transformed St George’s Hall and the area around massively, and it will be a shame not to visit it - not once - but several times.

 

If you prefer a 'moving picture' - walk around the Liverpool Christmas Market 2021 virtually: