Glasgow’s Winterfest at St Enoch’s Square takes a minute to walk round (Image: Douglas Dickie)
A market in one of Britain’s largest cities has been criticised for taking only one minute to walk through.
Winterfest in St Enoch’s Square, , has been described as a “modest offer” compared to Edinburgh’s, which has been hailed as one of the most popular of its kind in .
content editor, Douglas Dickie, visited Glasgow’s Christmas market and said afterwards that if you are looking for a magical experience “you best go elsewhere”.
Mr Dickie, writing in the same publication, said of his experience: “It was only ever meant to be a flying visit. And that was just as well because you can walk through the entire market in under a minute.”
He added there are a handful of stalls, a few fairground rides and a small bar area, but that is it. Mr Dickie continued: “There’s nothing really ‘wrong’ with it and you can while away 20 minutes there. But [it] just seemed a little insipid.”
Winterfest at St Enoch’s Square is a ‘modest offer’, Douglas Dickie says (Image: Douglas Dickie)
The sights and sounds of Christmas are all apparent, according to Mr Dickie, with sweets, gifts and food on sale, but the “experience is almost over before it starts”.
He added: “None of this is a criticism of the stalls or what’s [on] offer – even if it is, like all Christmas markets, hopelessly overpriced.
“But it seems the St Enoch Winterfest is little more than paying lip service to festive seasons past. It’s just not what it used to be.”
The issue with Glasgow’s Christmas market is that it is spread between George Square and St Enoch’s Square, according to Mr Dickie.
George Square’s Christmas market includes an ice rink, Big Wheel and 80 metre Drop Tower. It is due to open on Saturday (November 23) and runs until January 5.
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The Christmas market includes sweet, food and gift stalls (Image: Getty)
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “Glasgow’s hugely popular Christmas Lights switch-on event in George Square always signals the start of the city’s annual Christmas celebrations.
“George Square is the focus of our Christmas offering and the Christmas market always draws in visitors from all over the Glasgow region and beyond.
“The square continues to host traditional events such as the Blessing of the Crib, but this year also sees an enhanced range of attractions that includes exciting new fairground rides, a covered ice rink, a full-sized bar as well as stalls for food, drinks and Christmas gifts.”
They added that the St Enoch Square market is an important part of the city’s Christmas Festival and it is tailored to fit a more compact space than George Square.