the Strasbourg Christmas market attracts its first visitors

It has been an unmissable event for nearly 450 years. Strasbourg's famous Christmas market opened this Wednesday afternoon. Despite opening in the middle of the week, there were already many visitors strolling the aisles. Especially since for this first day, at nightfall, the large 30 meter high fir tree, Place Kléber, lights up for the first time. Guaranteed effect!

“It feels very ‘Christmas’!”

“Majestic!”, judges Anne-Valérie, from Strasbourg, and proud to act as a guide for her colleagues from other regions of France. “We are very chauvinistic in Strasbourg. It’s always so beautiful! It’s the magic of Christmas in Strasbourg,” she assures the microphone of Europe 1. “With the decoration of the city, it immerses us in the atmosphere,” adds one of her colleagues. And she will have something to satisfy herself. “Baguette flambée, sweet pretzels, mulled wine…”, the list of tastings is long for Anne-Valérie’s colleague.

A little further on, Stacey and Jess, arriving straight from Manchester, taste spaetzle, Alsatian pasta! “It's very good, so creamy… It's very good. We've seen a lot of photos [de Strasbourg] on Instagram, it looked stunning. And it’s very beautiful! It feels very 'Christmas'! “, explain the English.

Stars in the eyes

Among the 300 traders at the market, Laurence sells her bredele, small traditional Alsatian Christmas cakes. She has been coming back here for 30 years and each time she is delighted to meet tourists from all over the world. “It’s very enriching, we are very happy to make them happy. They are there to have sparkles in their eyes: and when they leave, they have them,” she judges.

The Christmas market will last a month until December 27 and should be as successful as last year. In 2023, 3.3 million visitors visited the market aisles.