York Christmas Market has kicked off once again, drawing in crowds from across Yorkshire and even further beyond, but some locals feel it is now too busy.
Taking to social media platform TikTok, one York local has criticised the event. Beth Crawshaw uploaded a video to her personal account showing massive crowds at the market.
She added that she was unable to go to any of the food stalls due to the throng of people and said people should go to other events in Leeds or Manchester. She also said there were problems with parking as a result.
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Beth said: “If you’re thinking of coming to York Christmas Market on a Saturday, can you just not? I’m going to show you exactly why, there’s just absolutely no point.
“If you actually manage to get parked, good luck with that, and then you get into town, these are the crowds you are faced with. You will not be able to go to a single food stall because it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
She ended the video by saying: “If I’m honest, York Christmas Market isn’t even that good. Leeds, Manchester, there’s so many better ones and everyone just makes it literal hell for the people who actually live here.”
At the time of writing, this video has more than 22,000 likes on the platform.
Sarah Loftus, the Managing Director of Make It York, responded to the reports of overcrowding and said: “The York Christmas Market is a popular and much-loved part of the Christmas festivities in York for both residents and visitors alike, which means at times it can be busy. We have a crowd safety officer and event manager on-site at all times to monitor the number of visitors and queues, as well as stewards on-hand to help manage visitor flow.
“We’ve also already received a lot of positive feedback regarding this years’ revised layout, where we’ve consulted with the Council Access Officer and York Access Forum to redesign the Christmas Market with ease of movement in mind.
We understand that York Christmas Market can be busy at peak times, especially on weekends, therefore we encourage people to visit during the integrated quieter periods between 10am to 12pm each day where possible. We encourage all visitors to plan their journey before travelling, and to use public transport or one of the six Park & Ride services when travelling into the city.
“We also have the virtual Christmas market , for those who would prefer to shop with our independent traders in the comfort of their own homes. York Christmas Market is open 7 days a week between 10am and 7pm until 22nd December.”
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