A Christmas miracle of Giant Santa proportions has come true as Manchester takes a coveted spot in the top fifteen festive markets across the continent.
Placing lucky number 13, Manchester shrugged off strong competition from a long list of 100 Christmas Markets, eventually being placed higher than stalwart Christmas destinations, including Dresden, Leipzig and Cologne.
Manchester is representing the British Isles as the only UK city to be nominated in the final 20 festive attractions by influential travel website, European Best Destinations.
The final positions were chosen by a European-wide vote by more than 200,000 people from 131 countries.
Cllr Pat Karney, Manchester’s Christmas spokesperson, said: “Although it often goes without saying – that Manchester has the best Christmas Market in the UK – it never hurts to be told. We have fought off competition from some of the most popular Christmas cities in the world and our reign as the UK’s capital of Christmas continues.
Cllr Luthfur Rahman, Manchester City Council’s executive member for school, culture and leisure, said: “Thank you to everyone who voted for Manchester, it’s an honour to be recognised as one of the best Christmas destinations alongside such illustrious European cities. Only one week to go until the market closes for another year, so fill your stockings!”
