Brighton Christmas market will be better this year, says councillor

This year’s Brighton Christmas market “will be an improvement” on last year’s, according to a leading member of Brighton and Hove City Council.

Unlike last year, there will be no fencing which would give the event more of a “feel you get on the continent” when it starts on Friday (11 November).

The Green co-chair of the council’s Tourism, Equalities, Communities and Culture Committee, Councillor Martin Osborne, said that the market would have a more traditional feel about it.

Councillor Osborne made his comments as he spoke about forthcoming events in Brighton and Hove in the remaining weeks of 2022 at a meeting on Thursday (3 November).

He said: “I’m really excited about this. Looking at the plans this year, I think they will be an improvement on last year’s plans.

“I know some people felt there could have been better. I note the event’s organisers struggled to provide the quality of offering they maybe were expecting that was for a number of challenging reasons.

“This year, they are mainly focusing around St Peters’ Square. This will be an open site without the fencing that affected the look and feel of last year’s event.”

This year’s market is expected to feature traditional wooden-decorated chalets and a smaller big wheel.

The organiser, E3 Events, based in Hove, has partnered with a German company with a track record of providing German Christmas markets in Bath, Edinburgh and Leicester Square, in London.

The Santa’s Grotto is due to be based indoors at nearby Paradox Place, in Gloucester Road, with a show – Elf Express – at the Ironworks studio, in Cheapside.