New Belfast Christmas market unwrapped: How Custom House Square festive village is to look
This is how Belfast’s newest major Christmas market is set to look, with plans to host up to 2,000 people at any one time for festive celebrations in the city’s Custom House Square.
Called ‘Once Upon A Winter’ the market is intended to be in place for six weeks, running from mid-November until the new year – meaning it’ll actually stretch past Christmas Day itself.
It’s to see 36 temporary chalets offering food, refreshments and crafts for sale, alongside a fully enclosed circular Dutch-style spiegeltent designed to accommodate live musical performances, and a covered marquee providing a festive bar area.
Currently under construction, the Custom House Square offering is a separate event to a now-traditional Christmas Market in the grounds of Belfast City Hall. Pulling in crowds since 2004, that’s still to take place and runs from November 14 until the Tuesday before Christmas.
By contrast, ‘Once Upon A Winter’ is planned to open around a fortnight from now on November 19, and runs until January 1.
The Custom House Square Christmas village will see in the new year with a ticketed December 31 celebration around nearby Albert Clock, which is to last until 1am.
That means a major public New Year’s Eve bash returns to Belfast for the first time in almost 20 years.
And while ‘Once Upon A Winter’ will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, current plans will see it reopen at 2pm on Boxing Day to continue festive celebrations.
It’s the brainchild of firm Belfast Events Ltd, which is owned by multi-million lottery winner Peter Lavery. He’s stated that he believes the City Hall market is essentially at capacity, and there’s the potential for another annual festive event in the city centre.
A planning application to hold the market recently went live. According to documents produced by consultants Turley to back up the case of Belfast Events Ltd, the Custom House Square facility would “create a distinctive sense of place by introducing a vibrant and welcoming festive environment” that “complements the historic character” of the area.
Stating that measures will be taken to minimise disruption to people who live near the site from noise and smell, the reports add the new market would “enhance the vitality, vibrancy and attractiveness of the city centre” and boost area businesses.