Oxford Christmas Market revamp criticised by traders

Oxford's market has changed organiser and switched from wooden chalets to gazebos

A Christmas market has been criticised for not capturing the festive spirit of previous years.

Oxford's market has changed organiser, lost its Christmas tree, and switched from wooden chalets to gazebos.

Its future was in doubt after its organiser pulled out over the inclusion of a cycle lane, and concerns about safety.

But Oxfordshire County Council says the road is a "key route", and that it has taken steps to make the market safe.

Traders Shae Grass and Tian Chaudhry, of homecooked dog food company Butternut Box, described the Broad Street market, which runs until 23 December, as disappointing.

Ms Chaudhry said: "There's not that much variety, there's not that much music. I think the footfall is quite low."

Mr Grass added: "Last year was a lot better when people weaved their way through the different chalets. It felt more Christmassy.

"This could be almost be a high street any time of the year."

Oxfordshire County Council believes there are more stalls than previous years

Khia Spencer, of Iuvo Skincare, said: "The chalets were something quite quintessential about Christmas, having quite a community feel, and pulling people from other cities and towns... for the whole ambience of the market."

But she said while the wooden huts were "sorely missed", there were still "smiley faces" and "brilliant products".

Pam Clark, a visitor to the market, said: "It's more like a food market than a Christmas market. I expected to see more Christmas items. We thought it would be covering a lot more things."

Her friend Sue Cocksedge said: "For a city like this I thought it would be much more exciting."

Traders Shae Grass and Tian Chaudhry described this year's market as disappointing

Luciana Malanga said her experience trading at the market had been a happy one

But Luciana Malanga, trading at the market for the first time with her illustration business Luce eps, said: "It's been lovely, so I'm just happy to be here.

"People are well within their rights to have their feelings, but so far we're happy."

Founder Nicole Rahimi said it had been "truly disheartening" not to be involved in 2023.

She said for any Christmas market to succeed "you need a lovely space in which visitors can wander round in safety and comfort".

She said it had been reduced to "two much smaller spaces separated by a road" which "resulted in the absence of Broad Street's beautiful Christmas tree".

She added: "Witnessing the damage this is causing to Oxford's reputation and depriving locals of a beloved Christmas tradition is truly sad."

In previous years cyclists dismounted to cross Broad Street during the Christmas market

Oxford City Council, which appointed new organiser LSD Promotions, has been approached for comment.

But LSD Promotions, which previously organised the Gloucester Green weekly market, said it was because of the cycle lane that a Christmas tree could not be installed - as decided by both councils - and it resulted in less trade space.

But the company "invested a substantial figure into brand new stalls, side sheets, weights, and tables".

It added: "We have had traders contact us who were only booked into the first half of the 24-day event, asking to extend into the second week, which demonstrates high level of sales which we are very pleased to hear."

Oxfordshire County Council said it believed there were more stalls than in previous years.

It added: "The east-west cycle path through Broad Street is a key route and is important to maintain. Thousands of cyclists use it every day.

"We looked at things we could do to improve safety, such as reducing the width of the entrance to the cycle path to reduce bike speeds."

It said there had been no reported accidents.

A recent ranking collated by JeffBet found that Oxford had the UK's most disappointing Christmas market, after gathering data from sources such as tourism sites, news outlets, TikTok, and Google Maps.

Manchester scored the highest.

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