The Leeds Christmas Markets are back and spread right across Leeds City Centre this year! Take a tour to see just some of the local and international stalls you can discover.
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00:00 Leeds Christmas Market this year is open every day until Friday the 22nd of December from 10am to 8pm.
00:08 What we've got in Leeds is a new way of doing Christmas markets here.
00:12 We used to have a market up at Millennium Square, a German market.
00:16 That stopped in 2019 so we've had about four years without a market.
00:20 So it's brilliant to see it back in Leeds in 2023.
00:24 We have 59 lovely traders on offer here.
00:27 A majority of them are Leeds traders and then we have quite a few traders that have come around the world just to be here at Leeds Christmas Market.
00:34 So we have traders from countries such as Zimbabwe, Morocco, France.
00:38 And you'll find there's a really good variety of product offer with the traders being from all around different locations.
00:45 One of the primary purposes of this market is to get people back into the city.
00:49 Leeds is one of the best shopping and leisure cities in the country.
00:53 When we looked at footfall across the first weekend of the Christmas market, it was up 20% on the same weekend the previous year.
01:00 So an amazing start to the market.
01:02 I think when you look across social media, people are really excited to see the market back in Leeds.
01:07 I think without a Christmas market, there's a risk that those customers go to Manchester, York, Harrogate and other places with a market.
01:14 So we really felt we needed to do something to bring people to this city.
01:19 Leeds is 11 locations, so it's really spread out around the city.
01:23 We've got Millennium Square, we've got Brigitte here, we've got City Square.
01:27 And I'll be in place there, outside W.A. Smith, Lans Lane, Corn Exchange.
01:32 It also gives the visitors who have never been to Leeds or even live in Leeds like myself,
01:37 but probably has lost a bit of touch because this gives them the opportunity to actually rediscover all the different areas and the development that's going on in Leeds.
01:47 It's really a good way of not only doing a bit of shopping and visiting all the stores, but also visiting the city and the local businesses.
01:56 Because at the end of the day, it's all about working together with the local retailers here.
02:01 It's very good for the business and for the English people can try our products.
02:07 So we try to take French products all from France. We come here to sell real French products and fresh.
02:15 We also have a lot of entertainment and activities that run alongside the market as well.
02:20 So we have Millennium Square that has the ice rink. We have a giant advent calendar with Santa.
02:25 We also have a nutcracker trail. So we have loads of life-size nutcrackers heading around the city.
02:31 We want people just to come and enjoy the place. You don't have to buy things, you can come and just enjoy the atmosphere.
02:37 And it's just about bringing everyone together and making sure everyone's happy over the holidays.
02:42 Leeds is a really, really special place. There's something about Leeds that has a really, really good energy.
02:48 So it's great to be here. I love coming here. It's great.
02:51 And I think a lot of our traders have said how much they really have enjoyed being here and they love the atmosphere that it brings.
02:58 It's a really family-friendly event. It's very inclusive and it really will aim to animate the city.