Christmas is without doubt one of the most celebrated days of the year. It’s a period we like to celebrate with family, friends and a lot of coziness in general. Our interiors transform into winter wonderlands, full of Christmas trees, fake snow, kitsch lighting and so on. It’s a time during which nothing is too much, making it a big feast for the maximalists out there. Add a ton of presents and yummy food and you’ve got yourself a jolly little Christmas. Or do you? One thing which can’t be missing are, of course, the Christmas markets.
We don’t really know where they came from or how they turned out to be such a big deal but the fact is: Christmas markets are everywhere. From the smallest village to the biggest city, most of them do organize at least one yearly Christmas market where everyone comes together to feast, drink and consume. Because let’s face it, they’re one big consumerist’s dream, full of qualitative and less qualitative gadgets and food.
Local products
In the family of Christmas markets, the one in Strasbourg is probably one of the most famous examples, starting this year on 25 November. Each year thousands of people flock together in the French city to enjoy the best of the French cuisine. But things are about to change. Starting from this year, visitors will no longer be able to eat a raclette nor tartiflette, there will be no champagne and accessories such as Christmas caps will be forbidden. Seems like a strange thing, until you’ve heard the reason behind the measure.
“People aren’t up for the Christmas attraction park or the open-air supermarket any longer. They tell us so themselves and the vendors say the same. The Christmas capital has to follow the spirit of time, answering to the ecological questions so omnipresent in our society about the provenance of products”, says Guillaume Libsig, deputy at the city council of Strasbourg, to Les Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace.
Therefore, instead of champagne, you’ll be able to drink the local crémant. Instead of raclette and tartiflette, there will be local cheeses and dishes for sale. And instead of mass-produced accessories, you’ll find local craftsmanship on the market.
However, the measure received quite a lot of criticism from local politicians and vendors so the question is: will it hold?
