I absolutely love Christmas, and usually the anticipation of it starts to excite me in about June of each year, much to the irritation of my husband. Generally I’ve done the majority of my Christmas shopping by the end of October, but for some reason this year it’s managed to sneak up on me, and here we are, with just 5 weeks to go, and I’ve barely acknowledged that it’s happening.
It’s disconcerting for a Christmas enthusiast to suddenly find herself feeling all lacklustre about the event that, up to now, has occupied her thoughts for roughly 6 months of every year. That’s half of my life! If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m going to the Harrogate Christmas Market with my friend on 30th November, which is guaranteed to result in a surge of festive appreciation, I’d be donning Christmas jumpers and dropping Christmas puns into general conversation to try and get myself in the mood for the jingle bells and mulled wine smells that will soon be emanating from every shop, café and pub in my home city of York.
Last year my friend and I went to the Harrogate Christmas Market and had a great time. We came back with loads of lovely gifts. There was a really diverse selection of stalls, including clothes, food, alcohol and crafts, and as well as buying lots of Christmas presents for my friends and family I also bought one or two for myself! I’m really looking forward to going again this year and hope that I come back as laden with gifts and brimming with Christmas cheer as last year.
There are lots of Christmas fairs and markets in Yorkshire this year so get yourself along to one of them and pick up some great gifts and a generous measure of seasonal excitement.
Saturday 16 November to Tuesday 24 December – Sheffield Christmas Market, Fargate
Thursday 28 November to Sunday 1 December – Harrogate Christmas Market, The Stray
Thursday 28 November to Sunday 1 December – Lightwater Dickensian Festival, Lightwater Valley, North Stainley, Ripon
Thursday 28 November to Sunday 1 December – St Nicholas Fayre, various locations in York
Saturday 30th November – Grand Christmas Fayre (all proceeds will go towards paying for therapies that help people fight the symptoms of MS and other neurological conditions), Bradbury House, 25 St. Mary’s Drive, Catcliffe, Rotherham
Saturday 30 November – Victorian Christmas Market, the Old Town, Hull
Saturdays of 30 November, 7 & 14 December – Grassington Dickensian Christmas Festival
Wednesday 4 December to Sunday 22 December – York Festive Fayre, Parliament Street
Saturday 7 December – Leyburn Christmas Market
Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 December – Knaresborough Christmas Market
Sunday 8 December – Beverley Festival of Christmas
Friday 8 November to Wednesday 18 December – Leeds Christkindelmarkt Traditional German Christmas Market, Millennium Square
Sundays of 8 & 15 December 2013 – Skipton Yuletide Festival & Christmas Market, town centre
