The History of Lincoln Christmas Market

It’s hard to imagine Lincoln Christmas Market with just 11 stalls in Castle Square, but believe it or not, that’s what it used to be like back when it first started in 1982! Now it is one of the largest Christmas markets in the UK, with over 200 stalls, and more than 250,000 visitors arrive each year to see the amazing market in the beautiful surroundings of Lincoln Castle and Cathedral.

The Lincoln Christmas Market began as a traditional German Christmas market in 1982 as part of its connection with the south-western German town of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse – it was the first German-style market in the UK!

There are stalls that have attended since it first began, up until the most recent 2021 Christmas market! These include the sausage stall ‘The Red Baron’, and the Lincoln branch of the Feucht Fröhliche Neustadter, which sells traditional German mulled wine called glühwein.

The Lincoln Christmas Market has only been cancelled on 3 occasions since 1982 – The first was in 2010 due to severe weather conditions (this was the first time it had been cancelled in 28 years!). In 2017 the final day of the market was cancelled due to heavy snow being forecast, however, the snow never arrived but the market didn’t go ahead for its final day due to the short notice. The third cancellation was in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Lincoln Christmas Market proudly hosts many other German foods, drinks and crafts, along with lots of other unique stalls from around the UK and local shops and sellers.

The stalls are full of hand-crafted items including jewellery, artwork, sculptures, candles and toys – just to name a few. There are also the most incredible food stalls and local produce and handmade goodies to buy throughout the market, with live music on-site.

The market also has a section of exciting amusement park games and rides for everyone to enjoy, including a huge ferris wheel, a beautiful carousel, a huge tower ride (which I didn’t enjoy the look of…) and lots of mini-games to win prizes like stuffed toys, along with kids rides and games, plus many more!