Whether you love them or loathe them, there's no doubting Manchester's Christmas Markets have been busier than ever this year with a full return following the Covid-19 pandemic. But while the crowds have been massive, the moans seem to have grown in size this year too.
There have been the usual gripes about the price of a sausage and gluhwein - particularly as we saw big year-on-year price hikes for 2022. And nobody seemed very happy about the average price of pints and sausages hitting the £6 mark.
Aside from the prices, many were left feeling the whole thing just needs to be a tad more festive - with some suggesting the markets have become too focussed on the food and drink stalls, with little in the way of "Christmassy stuff" to actually buy on the wooden stalls.
Read more : Manchester Christmas Markets named "most instagrammable in the UK"
Colleagues and I here at the MEN have been regularly out and about around the Manchester Christmas Markets this year to bring you coverage of the launch, as well as finding the best bits on offer and also to test out just what you can get for your money.
I also spread my wings and headed to Birmingham Christmas Markets to see how they compared to Manchester. And I'm afraid I found our Midlands rivals rather out-did things on the festive front compared to Manchester.
So, with the main markets packing up to finish today in Manchester, it seemed a good time to assess what worked this year - and what could really do with changing for their festive return in 2023.
Clearly they remain a huge draw for visitors heading to the city at this time of the year which is a great thing for investment and jobs in the city. And the council say it has been the biggest year yet for visitors - with crowds returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Naturally there are some things that will never change (like the prices I'm afraid folks). Some that can't change for next year (like we won't be getting Albert Square back as the "main hub" for the markets until 2024). But there are other things that maybe we can influence a little bit.
Or at least by putting them out into the public domain in one list, we can hope that the powers that be will take on board some of what we suggest. So here we go...
Better mix of stalls
An oft-repeated comment this year is that the markets were "too much like a food and drink market". Naturally, one of the big draws for people heading to town is to grab a gluhwein and a sausage- but most people would like to see more of a balance between retail and food.
Market Street has traditionally been the spot for more of the retail stalls with quirky independent gifts, but people were still saying they wanted more options this year. There have been lots of moans about a lack of festive gift stalls, and people weren't impressed with garden furniture looming large on both Market Street and King Street as not exactly a festive offering.
Council bosses are very proud of the fact that Manchester is now the biggest Christmas Markets in the UK with over 200 stalls - but is it time to start thinking that bigger is not necessarily better? A more condensed option of quality stalls appears to be what people want.
We're not exactly short of artisan makers across the region, you only have to look at the popular weekly Makers Markets to see that. So why not integrate more of that kind of stall?
Different locations?
Now, we all know that the markets looked and felt their best when the full German Market was based on Albert Square. But the massive town hall renovations have meant it's not been able to be used since 2019.
Without that large civic square, the markets do lack a clear focal point. And one of the big criticisms levied this year is that the event is "too spread out" across the nine different zones in the city - Piccadilly Gardens, Market Street, Exchange Square, Cathedral Gardens, New Cathedral Street, Exchange Street, St Ann's Square and King Street.
The council has aimed to make Piccadilly Gardens' Winter Gardens the main "hub" with an extended offering and festive tipi this year. The Windmill has also been moved here to make it look a bit more festive, but ultimately you can't escape the fact that, well, it's Piccadilly Gardens isn't it?
With the Town Hall refurbishment project set to continue for at least another year, the prospect of the markets returning there will not be until 2024. So as for next year - do we really want the main hub back at Piccadilly Gardens again? Or are there better options the council could look at?
Well, as I strolled about town this year I couldn't help but wonder why the REVERSE side of the Town Hall, eg on St Peter's Square, is not being used for the markets. This year, the long pedestrianised stretch outside Central Library and the rear end of the Town Hall has been used for some of the larger light sculptures, including the MCR sign, a Manc bee, and of course Big Santa himself.
But there's a lot of space here, and the stunning backdrop of some of Manchester's most historic buildings. And there's also the natural cover provided by the arched walkway which could surely be utilised to the benefit of traders and punters.
The council say it's tricky to use this patch due to the proximity to the tram lines - but it doesn't appear to have stopped the spread of the markets on Exchange Square which is also right next to the tram and arguably the markets' busiest hub.
Personally I think St Peter's Square would be the perfect solution to creating that "picture postcard" look and feel of the Christmas Markets that we all loved at Albert Square, and that tends to be a bit lacking across the other zones.
And how about spreading them into the Northern Quarter for a bit of an "alternative" Christmas Markets vibe? They could take over the whole of Stevenson Square while we're at it.
More of Manchester's foodie gems
Acclaimed chef Simon Shaw, boss of El Gato Negro, Habas and Canto in Manchester took a punt on the Christmas Markets for the first time this year - bringing his Michelin-recommended restaurant Habas to the heart of the markets action on King Street.
The Habas stall, complete with its own quirky, colourful blue tent with glass lanterns, where you could sit and have a vaguely warm sort of sit in, was a hugely welcome addition this year.
Simon told the MEN that he knew other restaurants would be keenly eyeing how it had done for him this year and has said it has been a success in its first year. Everytime I walked past it was manic busy.
Surely this sets out the stall now for other big restaurant names to consider giving it a go? It would bring a welcome Manc flavour to the food offering for sure.
More festiveness in general
One of my big take aways from my visit to Birmingham Christmas Markets was just how festive the whole thing looked compared to Manchester. Almost every stall was adorned with large cartoon-y ornaments of festive figures like santa, reindeer, elves, and young and old were loving it.
Coming back to Manchester to see the wooden huts with a bauble or string light here or there just did not feel festive at all. Birmingham even had a singing moose for Christ(mas)' sake - and MEN readers reckoned we used to have him (or one like him) here in Manchester when we had Albert Square in use.
So the campaign to get Chris Moose the singing moose back to Manchester starts here basically. And anything to give things a bit more of a festive makeover.
Also where Birmingham nailed it was at the main market square there were LOADS of little covered areas for people to sit or stand with friends and eat their sausage and drink their beers. This made such a difference and is sadly lacking across the Manchester markets at the moment.
More festive food options
In a similar vein, wouldn't it be great to see more festive-style food on the Christmas Markets? In past years we had the epic turkey sandwiches of Northern Soul, and whatever happened to all those fruit-covered-in-chocolate stalls that the markets used to be famous for?
Other suggestions would be to have a hot crumble or traditional apple pies and custard stall somewhere on the markets.
However, we do love all the festive twists from Porky Pig like the deep-fried pigs in blankets wrap, the epic turkey bagels of Triple B on New Cathedral Street, and Christmas in a tray from Yard and Coop on St Ann's Square. So we need them back next year too.
More things to do for kids
I was chatting to the MEN's Parenting Editor Emma Gill, who reminded me that back in 2015 there was a full on FUNFAIR for kids at the Christmas Markets. A fair few of our readers must have remembered that too because on our Christmas Markets Facebook page lots of you kept asking "where's the funair this year?".
No, there was no funfair. And no return for that large "Ice Village" we had in past years that, while popular with some families, was unsurprisingly very cold inside and had a fair few folk moaning too so you can't really win.
Cathedral Gardens was once again the more family-focussed zone at this year's Christmas Markets - with the large ice skating rink the main thing to do for families. But with tickets for kids from £12.50 and adults £14.50 it worked out as pretty expensive if you have a few of you going along.
So what about a few cheaper options for families? Yes, there was a free "send your letter to Santa" postbox here and more food stalls, but aside from that there was not much else here for kids.
I know it's hard to please parents, we're a nightmare aren't we? But it would be good to have something a bit more festive for the kids to do like some kind of festive play area or small funfair rides.
Or how about a festive trail around the markets with cute festive figures that kids can find, mark off a map and "win" a cheap bag of sweets at the end? Kids love that kind of thing.
Bring back the Christmas Parade!
But one thing we did REALLY love for 2022 was the inaugural Manchester Christmas Parade. This came as part of the series of Festive Sundays which were also a great event with roaming street artists in fabulous costumes.
The Christmas Parade itself, held on Sunday December 11, drew a huge crowd of young and old. And it really was a magical event as Santa, snow globes, giant elves riding snails, took over the city's streets.
Council bosses are already in talks to bring it back as an even bigger event for next year. It could, arguably, take on a longer route through the city as there was clearly an appetite for it - in the vein of the ever-popular Manchester Day parade.
What the council says
Manchester Council has hailed the success of this year's event with record visitor numbers. All 140,000 Christmas mugs ordered for this year's event - double the number of past years - have all been sold.
But they say they will take on board all the comments from visitors from this year as they start planning for 2023 in the weeks ahead.
Councillor Pat Karney, Christmas spokesperson for Manchester City Council, said: "Visitor numbers to our world-famous Christmas Markets have exceeded all expectations this year, with thousands upon thousands of visitors flocking into the city centre to enjoy them.
"We're definitely back up to pre-Covid levels and it's clear that visitors are really enjoying having their freedoms back and are making the most of this.
"Despite a bit of a dip in numbers seen during the train strike days, our first-ever Manchester Christmas Parade and our Festive Sundays aimed at families really helped boost overall visitor numbers and helped create an extra bit of Manchester Christmas magic.
"And with visitors gulping down the Gluhwein and managing to get through a whopping 140,000 Christmas mugs, thank goodness we had some spares from previous years and were able to bring out the vintage!
"It's not just the mugs either that have been going down a storm this year, we've also been talking to our traders and have worked out in a very scientific fashion that if all the bratwursts and sausages sold at the Christmas markets during their run this year were laid end-to-end, we'd have a line of sausages that would stretch pretty much from Manchester all the way to Liverpool
"More than anything though, what our visitor numbers this year tell us is that it's clearly game-on for 2023, and we're already starting to think about how we can make Christmas in Manchester next year even greener and greater than ever. Our planning will start in earnest in the new year and we'll be looking closely as we go at all the brilliant suggestions people have come up with on how we might do this.
"I'm also told by the elves-in-the-know that this will include suggestions from the big red man himself, who as well as confirming he will definitely be back in his favourite city in the world again next year has, I believe, a couple of ideas of his own on how we can make Manchester even more San-tastic in 2023!"
READ NEXT
Owner of all-pink Boujee restaurant owed £3million when it collapsed
Chef Paul Kitching has died - tributes are pouring in from the restaurant world
Gary Neville 'incredibly excited' as full details of new Stock Exchange Hotel brasserie announced
Shoppers shocked at learning price of turkey in Morrisons was not a typo
