The final countdown to a Castlefield Christmas



The giant advent calendar in Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens
Photo courtesy of menmedia.co.uk

Only one more sleep until the fabulous Castlefield Christmas Artisan Market opens for festive fun.  As the 23rd is peeled back on the giant advent calendar in Piccadilly Gardens the market opens at 10 am.  On the cobbled streets of Castlefield, near Dukes92, you will find speciality foods and produce, artisan arts and crafts and even sherry and minces pies.  In the evening there will be entertainment and North West Tonight broadcasting live.  A real traditional family Christmas market with something for everyone until 9pm.

Lights, camera, action and a giant advent calendar....

...just a standard day in the life of Castlefield Christmas Market which takes place this Friday, 23rd December, on the cobbled streets of Castlefield, near Dukes92  Not only is it going to be a fabulous traditional artisan market with lots of yummy food and produce, individual crafts, beautiful jewellery, sherry, mince pies and music but to add to the excitement North West Tonight will be there live for their 6.30pm show and the event will be unveiled to Piccadilly Gardens as the 23rd is peeled back on the GIANT advent calendar!! Definitely a day out not to miss, open from 10am to 9pm.

A big thank you to all our customers who braved the elements on Saturday and Sunday and supported us at the fantastic Wilmslow Artisan Market and Altrincham Vintage and Craft Market .  A big thank you too to our lovely friends and 'neighbours' at the various events who have helped keep spirits high on some of the cold, wet and windy days we've had over the last couple of months!

A special mention for the lovely Lorraine, of George's Gourmet Dog Biscuits who has become a good friend over the last few months.  Her home cooked gourment dog biscuits go down a storm at the various markets and we were totally wowed by her new line which debuted on Saturday, the Adidog dog jacket seen below!

Lorraine, still smiling despite the rain!

The gorgeous new Adidog jacket

A mention too for our fabulous new friends, the lovely ladies who are Vicki from Dotty Designs and Sam from Perfectly Poncho .  Always cheerful, whatever the weather, they've brightened up grey and rainy day with their fab personalities and gorgeous items.  Vicki's beautiful jewellery and Sam's gorgeous children's knitwear combine to create a pretty and eyecatching stall.  It was such a great surprise when they turned up at Wilmslow Artisan Market on Saturday and I can't wait to see them there again in January!

The lovely ladies Vicki and Sam!

As you may have heard it was Jacy's birthday on Saturday and we ran a prize draw on Twitter, a Make A Wish bracelet for the first 5 drawn out of a hat after midnight on the 17th who had tweeted her a happy birthday.  We also had a bit of fun on Saturday and offered a free Make A Wish bracelet with every purchase to anyone who sang 'Happy Birthday' to her.  I must say there weren't many brave enough to do a solo in the middle of Wilmslow high street but we managed to give a few away!

Happy Birthday Jacy!!

Looking forward again, we're getting really excited now about Castlefield.  We're joined by our extremely talented friends Cornelius Potts and Uncle Monty with their brilliant handmade greetings cards and Louise with her lovely macaron and other tasty goodies!

See you all there!! x

More Christmas Markets...

We have a busy week coming up with the last Wilmslow Artisan Market before Christmas on Saturday 17th (10 am - 4 pm Grove Street), the Altrincham Vintage & Craft Market on Sunday 18th (11 am - 3.30 pm in the covered market, Greenwood Street) and the Castlefield Christmas Market on Friday 23rd (10 am - 9 pm Castle Street, near Dukes92).

This is the 6th Wilmslow Artisan Market and the last six months have seen it go from strength to strength.  The market takes place on the main high street in Wilmslow town centre and there are now a huge amount of individual, quality stall holders offering a vast array of food, drink and artisan crafts.  Well worth a visit!

This weekend sees Altrincham's very own Christmas Market.  Called The Christmas Kitchen Food Fair it has been organised in conjunction with Altrincham Market and Barry Cooperman from La Rioja, The Belgian Bar and The Fish Game and will be open from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday and Sunday.  The regular market will be open as usual on Saturday as will the Vintage, Craft and Food Producers' markets on Sunday.  Of course, we'll be there, as usual, as part of the Vintage & Craft Market!

See the Christmas Kitchen Food Fair mentions on NetMums , Messenger Newspapers , J Davidson and The Hale, Altrincham & Sale Independent

Last, but definitely not least, is the Castlefield Christmas Market.  Hot on the heels of the successful monthly Castlefield Artisan market comes this special traditional Christmas Market. 

As I've said, it's on Friday 23rd December, just right for those last minute Christmas presents and for fabulous locally produced food from award winning producers.  It will be open from 10 am to 9 pm and situated on Castle Street near Dukes92 .  A fabulous traditional market offering an eclectic mix of Artisan specialist food, and festive hampers, chocolates, flowers, vintage gifts, jewellery, sherry and  mince pies with music and dancing from 5 pm onwards.  Something for all the family! 

Read more about Castlefield Christmas Market on the official Visit Manchester - Mcr Loves Christmas site, the Castlefield Forum , Yelp and CreativeTourist.com

See you there!

♫Happy birthday to you.....♪♪

It's our lovely Jacy's birthday on Saturday so to make it extra special we're running a birthday competition on Twitter.

If you tweet 'Happy Birthday' to Jacy on Friday 16th December on any of our Twitter accounts - @jacyandjools, @jjkitsch or @makeawishco - you will be entered into the draw.  At midnight, as her birthday begins, the first 5 people out of the hat will receive a free 'Make A Wish' bracelet!

Don't worry if you miss out on the Twitter draw though.  On Saturday we are at the Wilmslow Artisan Market on Grove Street from 10 - 4 and anyone who sings 'Happy Birthday' to Jacy will receive a free 'Make A Wish' bracelet with their purchase!

Good luck x

Coming up in 2012

We always have our next three events displayed on our blog but we have so many events coming up in the new year we've produced a downloadable document showing where we are going to be for the next few months. 

New events are always being added so it's always best to keep checking back on the blog or keep up to date by following us on Twitter @jacyandjools

Just click the link below which will take you to 4shared.com where our document is stored ready for download

Events 2012