CityLife

Must see: Christmas Lights / Christmas Markets 2010

Albert Square

Lights switch-on: Albert Square - November 12, 2010.
Christmas Markets: various locations, from November 18 to December 21, 2010.

There are officially six weeks of shopping time left until Christmas. Was that a collective gulp we heard?

Yes, every year it seems to creep up quicker, but there’s no doubt that with only 42 days left until the biggest public holiday of the year, the time has come to turn on the Christmas lights.

Some boroughs of Manchester have already got into the spirit, with early switch-ons bolstering business on the high street, but the biggest light show in the region goes on tonight when a star-studded line-up powers up the city centre’s display.

The X Factor winner Joe McElderry takes to the stage alongside CBeebies favourites The ZingZillas and cast members from Coronation Street and the visiting hit musical We Will Rock You.

Even Father Christmas is leaving his grotto at the House Of Fraser to spread some festive cheer.

The event that starts 6.45pm tonight, with the lights switch-on and a big fireworks display rounding the evening off at 8pm.

And if the lights are going on, that can only mean one thing – that the Christmas Markets aren’t far behind. In fact, the craft and food stalls open up on Thursday morning, and this time there’s shopping to be had in eight different locations.

As well as the main sites in Albert Square and St Ann’s Square and regular rows of wooden huts down Brazennose Street, Exchange Street and Square, New Cathedral Street and outside The Triangle, there’s a new French market on King Street.

Dealing exclusively in French food, wine, luxury items and style, it brings a whole range of new and interesting stallholders to the city for the first time.

Since the European Markets first opened in the 1990s, they have become a massive draw for shoppers from all over the country. But they are also an annual showcase for many local craft-makers, brewers and chefs who regularly take stalls right across the various markets.

The markets are no longer just a place to shop, but they’re become tiny cultural pockets to spend time (and money) in. And with that in mind, the organisers have redesigned the German market in Albert Square this year to include more seating and socialising space for shoppers while they enjoy their Gluhwein and roast pork rolls.

Lights: from 6:45pm.
Markets: 10am-8pm daily, food and drink to 9pm.
Both events: free entry.