We're open on Above Bar Street till early January, weather permitting. It won't be.
Southampton Christmas Market
Illustration of the Southampton Christmas Market: the Bargate, a ferris wheel, wooden market huts, a giant bratwurst and a pint, with a seagull in a Santa hat

Experience a True Southampton Christmas

On Above Bar Street since 2015. Bring a coat, and a bit more cash than you'd think.

Plan your visit Find the golden pineapple
★★★★☆ 84% would recommend 1,421 reviews ££ German restaurant
days 'til Full Council
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Southampton City Council's first Full Council meeting of the year, 2pm at the Civic Centre. Members of the public welcome. Agenda to follow.

The UK's most beautiful Christmas market

We've been on Above Bar Street every December since 2015, wedged in between the Bargate and the Marlands, taking up a good bit more than half the precinct. Our stallholders are out there from first light in the proper Southampton rain, mulling wine you'll later describe to a friend as "a bit dear", and selling some really nice bits alongside, to be fair, a fair amount of tat. Some people call it claustrophobic. We prefer cosy. Either way the pints are a tenner, and once again, Southampton has pulled Christmas out of the bag.

What's On

Live music most nights, plus a DJ set from Craig David's Mate. The bloke who does the singing has been doing roughly the same set since 2019, and we've grown quite fond of it.

The Stalls

Sixty-odd cabins, roughly nine of them open at any one time, selling gifts, sweets, and the sort of thing you buy in December and then find in a drawer in April.

Getting Here

We're on the bit of pavement you were quite fond of, a short walk from Westquay and about four minutes from the Bargate. Less if it's raining.

Gallery

A few hundred photos of the place, most of them taken on a fairly quiet Tuesday. Have a look and make your own mind up.

A brief and completely accurate history

The market's been going since 2015, though the general idea, standing about in the cold paying too much for a sausage, is a fair bit older than that. Medieval, probably. Nobody's really looked into it.

Southampton is where the Titanic set off from, which is a fact the city has decided to be proud of. We don't do a stall about that one. It felt like a lot.

The Bargate, which you'll see all over this website, is about 800 years old, making it roughly 800 years older than the market. We'd like to think it's proud of us. It hasn't said.

Find your way around

There's a few different bits to the market, all squeezed into the half of the precinct we've taken over. Have a wander. And do stop at a standing table on the way, they get a bit lonely.

The Bratwurst Quarter

A long line of grills doing bratwurst, currywurst, and a couple of things ending in "wurst" that we're a bit less sure about. You can get ten for the price of nine, which, if you think about it, is just nine sausages and a free one. Order at the counter. Yes, people do still ask for a wiener and some balls, and no, the staff don't react anymore.
Daily, 11am til the grill goes cold

The Fairground

More rides than you'd strictly expect for the space, and priced to match. A few quid a go, or the cost of a short holiday if you've got the kids with you. They'll ask you to pop your keys in a little tray before you get on, which is either sensible or a bit worrying, we've never quite decided which.
Midday til late, keys returned where possible

The Bar

A tenner gets you a pint and a quiet moment to reflect on that. There's meant to be a proper German bar in here somewhere, we're told it's happening, and we've been told that for a fair while now. Standing room only, mostly because we've put the tables a comfortable distance from anywhere you'd actually want to stand.
Open 11am til it all gets a bit much

Kingdom of Sweets

A big shiny chalet selling American sweets and fizzy drinks by weight, which is a bold pricing choice. It's set up directly in front of the actual Poundland, so if you fancy a quick price comparison, it's right there, and it's brutal.
Open 10am til the kids come down off the sugar

Santa's Grotto

Father Christmas is in most days, though he does like his breaks, so if the grotto's shut he's either on his lunch or he's had enough for the day. The queue moves at its own pace. The photos are lovely, in the sense that they exist.
Most days, Santa permitting

Times are rough guides. If a cabin looks shut, it's probably just resting.

Enjoy the market in four simple steps

We've refined this over the years, mostly based on you lot complaining. So here's how it tends to go.

1

Arrive, lose everyone

You'll come in off Above Bar Street, somewhere near the Bargate. Turn round to say something to whoever you came with. They've gone. That bit's normal, don't worry about it.

2

Sort out some cash

A few stalls take card, though not the one you want. There's a cashpoint by the Poundland, so head for that, and maybe take out a bit more than feels sensible.

3

Pint and a baguette

Get a pint (a tenner, we know) and a sausage in what we're allowed to call a baguette. It's a finger roll. We all know it's a finger roll.

4

Find a table

Take it over to one of the standing tables, of which there's usually a fair few going spare, and have a nice time. That's the main thing, really.

Right, where's this pineapple

Win unlimited free drinks Find the Golden Pineapple

Somewhere in the market, tucked in among the stalls, there's a golden pineapple. Find it before anyone else does and you get free drinks and sausages for the rest of the day. Ask a stallholder if you're stuck. They'll act like they've no idea what you're on about, but they know.

After last year, when the winner ended up in Southampton General on the Saturday night, "unlimited" is now roughly however much a stallholder reckons you can handle. Not real gold, not for eating, and please don't try to climb it. Somebody tried to climb it.

Live on the main stage

We've put a proper bit of effort into the line-up this year. Headlining is Craig David's Mate, doing a DJ set. Craig's from Southampton, as someone will tell you within about four minutes of arriving, and his mate does it for a good deal less. Full bill's below.

  • NightlySanta crosses the market on a wire, wind permitting. So far the wind hasn't permitted, but we're staying hopeful.
  • Fri & SatFred Dinenage does a 45-minute set of Northern Soul. He doesn't explain why, and it didn't feel like our place to ask.
  • WeekendsHoward Brown, the Halifax advert man, gives a short talk on the importance of home contents insurance. People do ask him to sing. He doesn't.
  • SundaysAn ABBA tribute act. There's two of them. They couldn't get the other two, and have asked us not to make a thing of it.
  • Boxing DayMatt Le Tissier pops in, in a personal capacity, and will happily sign anything except the thing you've actually brought for him.
This year's headliner
Craig David's Mate

A DJ set, nightly, over by the bratwurst. He's not Craig David, but they were at school together (apparently), and he's more than happy to talk about it. Doors from seven.

Some of the lovely things people say

84% of you would recommend us, which we think is lovely. Here's a handful of the actual reviews people have left, all completely real, and all given five stars by us, because we're generous like that.

★★★★★
Tenner for a pint, plus a free guilt trip about your personal finances. Can't imagine why you're not packed.
Karen, PortswoodVerified pint purchase
★★★★★
Why oh why, at the busiest time of the year for shopping, do we obstruct more than half the pedestrian precinct with this horrendous market? All it sells is crap tat and unhealthy food.
Trevor, ShirleyWalked the whole precinct
★★★★★
Germans did a better job of the market.
Sandra, BitterneBeen to Germany once
★★★★★
Buckfast, vomit and fighting? Yeeeeessss.
Dazza, WoolstonVerified Saturday night
★★★★★
Ordered a baguette. Received a finger roll. Round here, we just call them baguettes.
Malcolm, SholingDisputes our labelling
★★★★★
Hello pavement space, I've missed you.
Janet, FreemantlePosted the morning after pack-down

Questions we get a lot

Mostly the same handful, to be fair. Here they are, along with roughly what we tend to tell people.

Is there parking?

There's the Westquay car parks, and there's the park and ride. The park and ride is lovely, right up until the moment you actually need to get home, at which point it quietly becomes a rumour.

Is there actually a German bar?

Yes. Probably. It's one of those things that's definitely happening and also might not be open when you get there. Best thing is to just have a look when you're down, and manage your expectations on the way.

Are the rides safe?

They're inspected. Each morning a man in a hi-vis has a good look at them for a bit, gives a nod, and wanders off. We're not entirely sure what the nod means, but he seems happy enough.

How much is a pint?

It's a tenner. We know. We've had a lot of feedback on this, we've read all of it, and it's still a tenner.

Is it any good for kids?

They'll love it. Just bring a bit more money than you've mentally set aside, and be ready to explain why they can't go on every single ride. You will lose that conversation, by the way.

Do you take card?

Some stalls do, though never the one you're actually standing at. There's a cashpoint by the Poundland, so it's worth getting a bit of cash out before you start.

Take the market home with you

Stick the app on your phone for the occasional update, opening dates, the odd ride being shut, that sort of thing. It works offline as well, which helps, because the market has a habit of taking out the roads and the phone signal at roughly the same time.

It's about the only reliable way to find out we've lost Santa again.