Bustle or bust: Is York Christmas market too big?

York Christmas Market attracts hundreds of thousands of people to the city each year. For stallholders the crowds may be a welcome sight, but for others they lead to disruption and frustration. We spoke to people in York to gauge their opinions on whether the event has become too big.

After it was closed last weekend due to high winds during Storm Darragh, York Christmas Market is expected to be especially busy this weekend.

According to Make It York - the city's tourist board - 800,000 visitors contribute around £95m to the local economy through their spending at the market.

The organisation, which is owned by York City Council, said 75 traders were taking part this year, 80% of which are Yorkshire-based businesses.

Residents have said the market - located in Parliament Street and St Sampson's Square - is too compact, creating overcrowding and hazards for disabled and vulnerable people.

But Make It York said it had made changes to the layout of the event in recent years to open up more space.

Andy Farndale, 65, said there were too many people visiting and it had become unsafe.

"We do need businesses and I am pro-business, but at the moment I think it's unsafe for the elderly and people in wheelchairs.

"It's causing gridlock in the city. I want the businesses and tills of York to ring but we've got to look after the market in a more organised way than we're doing."

Mr Farndale - who lives nearby - said he struggled to get his bike through crowds on his way home and worries for the safety of those involved.

"We need to be having a really good rethink about the York Christmas Market and making it safe for everyone.

"If there was a situation where somebody had a heart attack the medical people and the police would not be able to get to them," he said.

Make It York said accessibility was a "constant priority" and preparation for the event was year-round.

A spokesperson said: "Evaluation of the previous year starts at the beginning of January and we look at developing site plans for the next Christmas Market.

"We do have monitoring and checking taking place during event delivery, including assessing all aspects of safety and crowd management."

Flick Williams said she would normally avoid the city centre at this time of year. She uses a wheelchair.

She says: "It's so difficult because at this height people don't see me and walk into me. So I don't come here unless I absolutely have to.

"Every year it's the same and nobody seems to be fundamentally addressing these problems because they make too much money out of it."

Other residents have posted footage on social media showing how busy crowds are.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said it had pre-planned routes to access hard-to-reach areas.

Tony Peel, group manager for City of York and Selby, said: "York's a busy place for a lot of the year, it's not something that we're unaccustomed to.

"We do prepare for numbers. We have two fire appliances constantly available within the city of York at any given time.

"A lot of partnership working goes into preparing for the markets and making sure the markets are safe for this time of year."

On social media, Gill Mulroe suggested organisers move the market.

She said: "There is so much space outside of the York museum to spread out the market, but they condense it into the space in Parliament Street, it is unsafe and absurd to think anyone would have a good time."

Another user, Hazel, said she lived in York and the market makes the city unpleasant at this time of year.

She said: "It's difficult to cross roads safely, pedestrians are forced into the road to try to get past huge queues for the market just to do their normal walk to work or walk their dog.

"The litter is atrocious. And the bus services can't cope. Buses that run every 10 to 15 minutes are severely impacted because they're over capacity and experiencing extreme queues at all stops."

Evie wrote: "Our gorgeous old city is not built for this."

But some of the traders we spoke to said they rely on the market for business.

Tom Calvert runs the Avorium stall, part of a business he has with his sisters selling personalised pastel desk accessories and stationery.

He said: "We really rely on the Christmas Market, it's a really important time of year for us and it is really great for us to interact with so many new customers.

"Obviously the weekends are the busiest time of year, so we are really excited to have a nice big weekend.

"The market runs for about six weeks and there are one or two Saturdays where the market does get a little bit busier, but we want it to be busy."

Freddie Broadbent, who works for baked goods supplier Brown and Blonde, said he was expecting this weekend to be busy after the weather disruption last Saturday.

He said: "If the weather holds, I think it will be a busy weekend.

"In the last few Saturdays it has been absolutely mad. I've heard from colleagues about how it has been quite overwhelming for some people who have worked here and it has been a bit intense, but manageable."

Rachel, from York, said she enjoyed the buzz at weekends, but preferred to go in the week.

She said she thought the extra business was good for York's economy.

She added: "It is great at the weekends when the market brings lot of people around to York, but I prefer to go to the market during the week as I have a small baby and that's more convenient for me as it is less busy than the weekend.

"It's just really great loads of people come and spend loads of money in York.

"Hopefully a lot more of the shops will open in the centre as it has been sad to witness a lot of shops closing in York over the past seven years, so hopefully it brings a lot more business into the city centre."

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