Bristol’s Christmas market is being built in Broadmead this week. The festive wooden stalls, lights and other decorations are in the process of being set up in Bristol’s Shopping Quarter and workers are currently up on ladders and working hard to bring the market to life for 2024.
Located in the heart of Bristol City Centre, the Christmas market is a must-visit destination for locals, visitors, shoppers and wanderers alike. It usually boasts around 35 unique stalls, perfect for browsing for quirky Christmas gifts, and an array of live entertainment.
The warm Jäger Barn Bar serves up festive drinks and live music, while you can also feast on hot food and other drinks elsewhere around the market site. There are even private gondolas to book. Just over a week away from opening (the market runs from November 1 to December 23 this year), the market was already taking shape when Bristol Live visited the area on Tuesday afternoon.
This year, however, there seems to be a change to the market’s layout. According to a notice taped to a pole in the centre of Broadmead, some aspects of the market have changed direction. The notice, titled ‘Licensing Act 2003 – Application for the Minor Variation of a Premises Licence’ includes information around an application to “rotate the bar so it will face Merchant Street”.
The notice goes on to say: “In previous years, the bar has faced Broadmead, towards Cabot Circus. The new position is still within the licensed area and will not increase the capacity for drinking on the premises. Nor will it affect access between the public part of the premises and the rest of the premises or the street or public way.
“It will not block emergency exits of routes to emergency exits, or impede the effective operation of a noise reduction measure. There will be no new or increased levels of licensable activities. This rotation of the bar will have no impact on the capacity.”
The bar, as it was set up on Tuesday, is so far facing the newly proposed direction. The gondolas could also be seen in the bar area, which was fenced off in an area that also contained machinery and other materials.
Festive Santa statues were waiting patiently to be put in place around the rest of the market site, while many of the market stalls themselves, currently empty, were having roofs attached and final building work done to get them ready for stallholders to move in. Fairground rides were also being installed in places.
As shoppers walked by among the hustle and bustle of the end of a working day, many stopped to watch the work unfold. Some also stopped to point out Christmas lights which had been hung above them.
You can find out more about this year’s Christmas market in Bristol by reading our handy guide here. Stalls open at 10am, beginning on November 1.