Birmingham German Christmas Market 2012

[sefton66]

Its back some pics of final preperations, we have a ferris wheel in Centenery Square too thread to post pics over the christmas



















http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news...ms-2012-307846

[SimonTheSoundMan]

Not this again!

Can we just have a year off.



Yours sincerely,

Simon who hates the Christmas market.

[DBadger]

It should be held at Eastside on Curzon Street station. It's always too busy and stops access to the shops around it. New Street doesn't need the footfall the market provides. I do like the market I just don't think it's suitable for where it is held.

[Nessyjord]

Simon and DBadger, stop your moaning!

It's a fantastically successful event which really gets the build up to Christmas going!

[Brum X]

MERRY CHRISTMAS BIRMINGHAM AND WELCOME TO FRANKFURT

[KHvillan]

Originally Posted by DBadger

It should be held at Eastside on Curzon Street station. It's always too busy and stops access to the shops around it. New Street doesn't need the footfall the market provides. I do like the market I just don't think it's suitable for where it is held.

Except no one one would venture down to it. A massive part of its trade is made up of employees who work in the City Centre - they wouldn't walk down to Curzon Street in their lunch hour or after work. I don't hear any of the retailers complaining about it. It probably boosts their trade by attracting tourists.

[Engels]

I'm sick of the bullring can't that close for a year too, and for that matter the M42 is bloody noisy can't they shut that a few weeks every year too

What do you mean i'm putting my personal preferences ahead of the wider economic situation its not my job

Edit
joking of course, Christmas spirit and all :-)

[DBadger]

Hey, I think they're great, but they seriously clutter New Street and make it hell to walk around. It's just a shame that something so beneficial to the city is also a massive inconvenience.

Maybe not Eastside, but we go on about Birmingham having a small retail core when compared to other cities, and then cram everything into a tight space when something as good as this comes along.

[BhamJim]

Holy night!! there's some miserable feckers on this forum.

The Christmas Market is ace, fact.

God rest ye.

[sefton66]

Record numbers expected at Birmingham’s Christmas market
15th November 2012

BIRMINGHAM marketing chiefs are predicting record numbers of visitors will turn up for this year’s Frankfurt Christmas Market.

Visit Birmingham’s ‘meet and greet’ service has received record bookings from visitors arriving by coach to the city’s market, which opens to the public today at 10am.

The welcome service, which sees Visit Birmingham’s visitor experience team greet customers travelling to the market by coach, has experienced a 30% rise in bookings over the last year with 148 coaches set to visit the Frankfurt Market this winter compared to 114 in 2011.

Passenger numbers have also rocketed from 5,337 to 7,277 - an increase of 36% - as the biggest German Christmas market in the UK, attracting an average of three million visitors a year, continues to grow in popularity.

Visit Birmingham has been running the annual ‘Meet and Greet’ service since 2008. This year, coaches are set to descend on the city from 40 different locations around the UK including Sheffield, Peterborough, Teignmouth, Cheltenham, Darlington and Bedford.

Jennifer Young, head of visitor experience at Marketing Birmingham, which manages the Visit Birmingham ‘meet and greet’ service, said: “The record number of bookings with our bespoke ‘meet and greet’ service shows that a personal welcome goes a long way - we aim to help visitors find their feet and provide a first class experience for those visiting the city, from the moment they arrive until they leave.

“We are still taking bookings for the meet and greet service and hope to welcome many more visitors on board in the lead up to Christmas.”

The ‘meet and greet’ service will run as part of the city’s festive campaign ‘Birmingham - Open for Christmas’, designed to target visitors to spend a weekend break in Birmingham during Christmas and New Year.

Members of the visitor experience team will also be on site every day at the Frankfurt Christmas Market with a Visit Birmingham stall located at the Christmas Craft Fair in Chamberlain Square.

The Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market runs until Saturday December 22.

http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/mobil..._section=19036

[morestoreysplease]

Maybe next year the stalls can follow a line down from Masshouse through City Park to MP?? There are a lot of people who work there and of course visit Thinktank.

[SimonTheSoundMan]

I wonder if the Frankfurt Christmas Market pay British taxes, or funnel them abroad.

[BhamJim]

I would say that they definately pay british taxes. As well as rental fees, accommodation costs, fuel, food, drink, entertainment, utilities as well as bringing people into the city who then use the other nearby permanent shops, bars, resturants etc....

Besides which, from my experience thesedays about 50% of the stalls are run by local people!

[djay]

Originally Posted by BhamJim

I would say that they definately pay british taxes. As well as rental fees, accommodation costs, fuel, food, drink, entertainment, utilities as well as bringing people into the city who then use the other nearby permanent shops, bars, resturants etc....

Besides which, from my experience thesedays about 50% of the stalls are run by local people!

all very true

[DBadger]

Last year a lot of the stores were duplicated, so they could easily split it into two less dense markets, one headed up New Street and one up High Street maybe, and even as MSP says down City park towards Millenium Point.

Again I don't think it is a bad thing to have, but it does clutter an already busy shopping space.

[djay]

AS it has become so popular, i think they need to rethink it. it is very dense now and it can take a long time to walk through, eventually people will decide not to go because of this, some of my friends don't bother as it is so busy.

They do need to thin it out a bit i think. for example, it may be better to have stalls which are single occupancy but open on both sides along new street taking up a little less space and reducing the crowding around the most popular stalls. I suppose once the library is finished and we have that square back, i can see a few of the stalls moving to this area, possibly the whole of the craft market moving there.

[markmcd1976]

It's great and brings in new visitors to the city. I just hoped they've rejigged it a little to make it a bit different for us regulars!

[DBadger]

I'm hoping it snows before it goes, it always looks better (and quieter!).

[Soul_13]

Should move to centenary square

[DBadger]

It is up there this year!