Haslemere Christmas Market

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Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town #Christmasmarket

A lovely one-day Christmas market in a rural British market town

Christmas markets originated in medieval Germany. Since then, they have become a fixture in many European countries. Their arrival in the United Kingdom is relatively recent. Lincoln, a city in the English east Midlands, brought the first traditional German Christmas market to the UK in 1982. Today, Christmas markets can be found in several UK cities, most opening in late November and running through much of December

Many smaller towns have their own one to four-day Christmas markets. I had the opportunity to visit one of these community markets in the town of Haslemere. Ā Haslemere is the most southerly town in the county of Surrey. The oldest part of town is centered around High Street, where there are several buildings dating to the 14th and 15th centuries.

During the one-day market, stalls replace traffic on High Street and West Street. The stalls offer a variety of food and drink items for Christmas entertaining, items to decorate the home, and crafts and other products for gift-giving. There is Christmas music, rides for the children, and plenty of food items to eat onsite.

Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town

We entered the market on West Street. Stalls began in front of the Waitrose grocery store. Free samples of mince cake sat on a table in front of the store. Staff handed out free insulated shopping bags. I didn’t need to walk much further to realize how useful the insulated bags would be. The next section of stalls contained a variety of meats for your Christmas dining: sausage rolls, turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, partridges, pheasants, smoked trout, and more.

Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town

Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town

Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town

Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town

Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town
Many stalls offered samples
Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town
And there was food to purchase for immediate consumption
Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town
Christmas decorations
Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town
The smell from the stall selling orange and spice garlands was wonderful!
Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town
All kinds of crafts and gift ideas
Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town
I loved this glassware wrapped with silk fibres and then varnished
Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town
Sami reindeer skins
Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town
Carollers
Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town
Rides for the wee ones
Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town
Mulled wine for the not so wee ones
Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town
Or perhaps a different refreshment
Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town
And a living nativity scene

The market contained a great variety of goods and produce and had a family, festive atmosphere. I thoroughly enjoyed my stroll through the market.

The Haslemere Christmas Market usually takes place on a Sunday early in December. The 2023 Market date is December 3, 2023.

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PIN ITĀ Haslemere Christmas Market: A lovely one-day community Christmas market in a rural British market town #Christmasmarket #market #Christmas #Surrey


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22 Comments

  1. These markets have a charm about them that we seemmostly unable to replicate in our part of the world. Maybe itā€™s the historic settings. Sure beats going to the mall.

  2. I love Christmas markets and have been to a few of them in Germany–what a treat! A few years ago Pittsburgh started one–it gets more authentic every year. Your photos of the food made me hungry!

    1. Lyn, there are a few Christmas markets in Canada. I’ve visited the one in Vancouver, which was nice, but with not as many stalls as this one. In many places in Canada it is too cold to wander around stalls outside. Versions are held indoors, but they don’t have quite the same feel.

  3. Oh I miss Christmas markets, you are so lucky to have them. We returned to Australia this year after a few years in Europe, we had a local “Christmas Market’ advertised and was so disappointed when I got there, not even any decorations let alone food. This looks great, Merry Christmas

    1. Michele, how disappointing. I’m hoping to also visit one of the larger, several week Christmas markets in England during this trip.

    1. Carole, there were a lot of tempting things to buy. Knowing I had limited room in my suitcase held me back, although we did buy a few treats to eat.

  4. I loved all of your photos but especially the last one with the village in the background. And I had a huge chuckle at the picture of the sausage with the “Giggley Pig” label. We have Christmas markets in Portugal too but yours looked much bigger and, oh yum, had no end of goodies. With the Christmas carollers in the background, I’ll bet you it didn’t take much to put you in the Christmas spirit mood!

    1. Sue, there are several traditional German-style markets in England which run for several weeks and a number of other towns put on this kind of one or two-day festival. The food here certainly was an attraction.