Cost Of Living During The Festive Season
In Coventry, the council have brought back a crowd favourite from previous years, the Christmas Market. This commenced on the 18th of November and will entice customers until the 7th of January 2024. Bringing holiday cheer to both locals and tourists alike, the Market will be open every day from 11 am until late. The market's extended hours cater to a wide range of schedules, ensuring that everyone can partake in the festive merriment. Following this the Christmas Market is home to a wide range of vendors and many stalls selling mouthwatering food, desserts and one-of-a-kind keepsakes and presents for loved ones.
Many people have begun preparing for the celebrations and indulging in a great deal of food and drinks as the Christmas season approaches. There will be plenty to enjoy at Coventry Christmas Market this year, including Yorkshire pudding wraps, mulled wine and much more as there are 24 stalls to choose from and each stall offers a variety of products as all the food is freshly made and will be receiving the best quality.
Beyond the captivating stalls, a new addition awaits at Coventry's Christmas Market, a towering Ferris wheel, soaring approximately 115 feet high. Offering panoramic views of the City Centre from its summit, the experience is priced at £8 for adults or £6 for children. To further the festivities there is also a deal called the family ticket (two adults and two children) for only 24 pounds, and you can even book on their website for an extra 15 percent off. As cost of living has hit, deals and offers are appreciated by the public to ensure every penny counts for families this Christmas, whilst still being able to enjoy the festivities.
Your probably wondering 24 stalls how will ever choose which one to go to well we did a survey by including the public and the stall vendors to give us their opinions on what their top five favourite and best-selling stalls are. In fifth place we had the green leaf diner, this is a stall that supplies vegan and vegetarian cuisines. The crispy vegetable burger and spicy soybean burger are their best-selling items, and they also have a ton of delicious toppings that you can add on their halloumi fries. In fourth place it was the cookie house stall which served many different types of cookies from Ferrero Rocher, Kinder and many fan favourite flavours to choose from.
In third place it was the churro candy stall which sold a mix of old school favourites like classic glass drops including imported fudge from Germany, and freshly made churros covered in any topping of your choice. In second place it was the barbecue street grill which had a variety of different meaty products, to be cooked up and served in a soft batch roughly for the price of six to seven pounds. And the best saved for the end, in first place it was the well-known Yorkshire pudding wraps which only costed a total of £6.50 and I must say for a filling scrumptious wrap it does sound worth it. As the stall vender James Rai had said “it’s been a viral product over social media, and many have come to try it out”, This shows this Christmas market is quite up to date with the latest interests.
Of course, with these divine treats it comes with a price as many of you may be wondering what the prices are of said treats, as the cost of living has hit everyone differently and may affect someone’s weekly budget but I’m here to inform you that most stall prices start from three to four pound it just depends on what you are interested in.
As we are all aware Christmas is around the corner and many are excited as the jolly season brings comfort and joy to one’s heart, some are suffering and wondering if they’ll even be able to afford a Christmas this year, with prices shooting up due to the cost of living. Many are wondering if they would be able to enjoy the fun at the Christmas market, as it may not be a suitable budget for some people. However, some of the public may believe that the cost of living has affected the market by not being able to spend much money on it.
People may be deterred from visiting Christmas markets by high expenses they have, particularly if they must travel there however, on the Christmas market broacher they have actually suggested many ways of how to get to the place for example listing cheaper and closer car parks and as its in-city center which is only a 15-minute walk from the train station. On the other hand, people might spend more money on necessities than on enjoyable activities like visiting festive markets.
The owner Leila Croydon who’s managed the Christmas market for the last eight years with her husband Shaun Croydon and brother in-law Reece Croydon says, “it hasn’t been affected after covid that was actually our best year but it’s hard to say what has altered as this year we have progressed and have gotten bigger and bigger”. She believes that even though prices have increased and that it has cost her and the stall venders more to keep up with the stock it has paid off as it’s been busier and she says, “people are being paid more so it all balances out at the end of the day”. As Leila said her views, she made a point that most of the public have agreed with is that even though prices have increased but so have wages even if it is by only a certain percent. Some have even said that they had prepared themselves for Christmas as they have been saying towards the end of summer, so they have plenty of money to enjoy over the festive season.
One of the stall owners also had a say and shared his views about the situation, of pricing his stall to where he could make a profit but also will satisfy the customers’ budgets. John Douglas Smith a stall owner of the chocolate kiss stand, a fun fact of these chocolate kisses is imported all the way from Germany as they are authentic German chocolate he says, “prices have gone up since last year”. He also believes that the joy of treating yourself and loved ones can be pricey, so he has charged 100 grams of chocolate kisses for seven pound as a reasonable price as they are imported and shipped all the way from Germany. However, he still has gotten backlash as he said, “members of the public have complained that they’ve gone up since last year which has dropped few sales”.
As it is shown this year Coventry Christmas market has faced a few challenges and so have the public but over the years it has gotten better and has improved with different creative ideas, and we can only hope for It to be even better next year. I can’t wait to see how they’re going to top the big wheel next year as you can’t get better than that.
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