WINCHESTER draws thousands of visitors to its streets from all over the area, and beyond, each Christmas.
The Cathedral is at the heart of the city’s celebration, with its many Christmas services, Christmas Market and ice rink.
The Christmas Market is inspired by traditional German Christmas markets and attracts more than 350,000 visitors each year. The pretty wooden chalets are situated in the Cathedral’s historic Close surrounding an open-air real ice rink.
All our exhibitors have been hand-picked for their interesting, high quality and unique products many of which can’t be bought on the high street.
The 2014 Christmas Market will be running from Thursday, November 20 to Sunday, December 21. It is open every day, 10am-6pm from Sun-Wed and 10am-7.30pm from Thu-Sat.
Many of the exhibitors will be attending for the full duration but some will only be at the market for the first half with new exhibitors filling the chalets for the second half.
The ice rink will be open from 20 November to January 4. This open-air real ice rink can be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities. Ice skating sessions last for one hour – this includes time to fit your skates so expect to have approximately 50 minutes on the ice. Free skate hire is included in the ticket price.
On Friday, November 21 from 6pm to 9pm, there will be evening of free entertainment in the Cathedral Outer Close to celebrate the opening of this year’s Christmas Market.
The event promises to be a feast for the eyes, ears and taste buds with highlights including live music from the Marwell Zoo Choir and seven-piece funk, jazz and classic dance band Funk Lab, a procession of spectacular paper lanterns and an exciting pyrotechnic display.
Come early to explore the seasonal food and drink and festive shopping at the Christmas Market and to take to the ice for an exhilarating skate. The Christmas Market will be open from 10am and the Ice Rink from 11am.
Find out more about any of the events online at winchester-cathedral.org.uk.
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