The localness of Christmas markets
For many years now Cardiff has seen a variety of markets take over various parts of the city. With the development of High street into a pedestrianised zone the markets have been spreading to these areas. Craft Folk who have been organizing and running the markets have introduced wooden sheds for the stall holders. Which is alot better than the old metal frames with plastic walls that they had previously. When I say previously I think they have been doing it now for over ten years. In fact about seven years ago I took over one of the stalls with a friend to sell one off t-shirts, jewelry and ceramics.
It was a great although sometimes cold experience. We managed to sell some things and it was great to meet the people who were actually going to use the things we were selling. I remember the people we were next too as well. There was a person selling crystal ornaments and a family from London selling a balaclava/scarf thing. So more recently I have become much more aware of the community of Cardiff and it's shop owners and the big chains that have been introduced to an ever greater degree with the recent developments in places like St. David's 2 and this anonymity of place has been bugging me for a while now with regards to these markets.
My thinking is a follows:
- The markets create a novel experience for the holiday periods for people who come to visit Cardiff, but are they Cardiff?
- I wonder how this affects local shops. Does it help them? Or does it take from them?
- is the quality of these markets good enough? I mean should anything be allowed to be sold?
- should we look more at foreign markets coming to Cardiff to educate and experience new things? Similar to the French market in Cardiff bay that has been coming back year after year.
It would be great to find out how much impact they do put into the local economy, and to know how much they pay the council for the privilege.
It was a great although sometimes cold experience. We managed to sell some things and it was great to meet the people who were actually going to use the things we were selling. I remember the people we were next too as well. There was a person selling crystal ornaments and a family from London selling a balaclava/scarf thing. So more recently I have become much more aware of the community of Cardiff and it's shop owners and the big chains that have been introduced to an ever greater degree with the recent developments in places like St. David's 2 and this anonymity of place has been bugging me for a while now with regards to these markets.
My thinking is a follows:
- The markets create a novel experience for the holiday periods for people who come to visit Cardiff, but are they Cardiff?
- I wonder how this affects local shops. Does it help them? Or does it take from them?
- is the quality of these markets good enough? I mean should anything be allowed to be sold?
- should we look more at foreign markets coming to Cardiff to educate and experience new things? Similar to the French market in Cardiff bay that has been coming back year after year.
It would be great to find out how much impact they do put into the local economy, and to know how much they pay the council for the privilege.
1 Comments:
I read with great interest your blog on the localness of Christmas Markets in Cardiff.
As somebody who has lived in Cardiff for over 26 years, I feel dissatisfied with the current winter calendar organised by Cardiff Council outside of the Christmas light switch on and Winter Wonderland compared to the excellent summer calendar (harbour festival, food and drink festival, big weekend etc )
The current market that exists in the city centre lacks in the atmosphere that can be found in so many markets I have visited e.g. Bath and Birmingham.
Why does Cardiff get it so wrong? I feel that the market does not do the city justice and is not the tourist attraction it could be.
To answer your questions:
I feel it doesn’t create a novel experience for people in the holiday period – what is different about it? It is simply catching up with other cities.
However, I do believe a lot of the traders are local which can only be good for the South Wales economy.
I feel the quality of most of the products is good enough but it is very much the same year on year with no change. The products often don’t reflect Christmas either e.g. decorations and other Christmas items.
I agree that more foreign markets should be coming to Cardiff to offer the city something different and a chance to compete with other cities.
The question I pose is – Is the Current market in the city centre a Craft Fair or a Christmas Market?
Post a Comment
<< Home