This year in Carlisle, the Christmas markets were bigger than ever with fairground rides like a helter skelter and even a mini carousel to have a look over the city's dazzling Christmas markets adorned in golden fairy lights.
Here's our review of this year's Carlisle Christmas Markets. Have a great Christmas to those who celebrate!
Food
This year we saw the return of many of Carlisle’s favourite food vendors such as the churros, El Mexicano Burrito, doughnuts and coffee stalls which we sampled last year.
There were also some new additions to the markets such as the Greek Grill House and yorkshire pudding wraps.
We decided that this year we would give the new food vendors a try and sample and rate them so you know where to get the best scran in future.
First up we have the Famous Yorkshire Pudding Wraps that were actually all sold out of what we first wanted to try which was their pig in blankets wrapped in a Yorkshire.
Instead we opted for a pulled pork sammie drenched in gravy, stuffed with stuffing and a good helping of apple sauce over the top.
For £6 you could get fresh and melt in the mouth pork and with the added addition of the apple sauce it brought out the sweetness in the meat but wasn’t too overpowering.
It was piping hot which is exactly what you want to battle the cold in Carlisle, we’re rating it a 9/10.
The pulled pork dream sammie.
The next food we sampled was a halloumi wrap from the Greek Grill House and I know what you're thinking, that's not very Christmassy. Well, you won’t care about Christmas flavours once you’ve sampled this divine winter warmer from the mediterranean.
Packed inside a soft tortilla flour wrap is chips, veggies and some salty, crispy and cooked to perfection halloumi, the veggies were a bit a limp but that didn’t matter because the halloumi provided some salt to them as well as the soft and crunchy chips bursting out of the wrap.
We’re rating it an 8/10 as it wasn’t as hot as the pulled pork sarnie and the veggies weren’t exactly even needed but it was a bargain lunch at £6 for the quality.
The halloumi peeking out the top of the soft packed wrap.
We couldn’t go all the way to the Carlisle Christmas markets and not try something sweet to top off our dinner and this year the markets saw the return of the sweetie man, churros and the new additions even had freshly fired marshmallows and fudge.
We opted for the fudge purely for the extensive variety they had including, ferrero rocher, choccy orange, oreo, rum & raisin and salted caramel.
The rum & raisin packed a punch and was properly boozy but you still got that classic fudge flavour as the base. The Ferrero Rocher had to be the winner flavour wise but again you still had the essentials of good fudge in it.
Our least favourite was probably the oreo purely because of how chocolatey it was but I think for chocolate overload lovers it would’ve been divine.
We’re rating it overall an 8/10 because for 6 pieces it was £20 which felt a bit overpriced and the let down of the oreo one.
The fudge of dreams, delectable indulgence in a thick square.
Gifts
This year was a mix of both traditional gifts and some more unique offerings at the markets with some thrifted clothing, jewellery, ornaments, artwork and alcohol.
The Victorian Candle Co.
Always one of our favourites to return to each year, Victorian Candle Co. were back with some new candles.
They had Christmas and seasonal inspired scents such as Cranberry and Ginger, Christmas Tree, Spiced Clem and baked Gingerbread giving you a warm winter hug with each different smell.
What we really love about the Victorian Candle Co. is that each year they become more innovative with the candles so if you know someone as mad about candles as us then this will be the perfect gift for them this season.
The seasonal candles on offer.
Thrift Store
Are you wanting to gift clothes this season but you don’t necessarily want to give your money over to fashion giants such as Primark and H&M? Or do you just want to be a bit more environmentally conscious with your purchases?
Then look no further than this thrift store located near the Lanes Shopping Centre.
Here you get big brand names such as Champion and Gillicci for a fraction of their original cost as well as lesser known brands.
They have a wide variety of winter clothing such as fleeces, jackets and more so that people can brave the harsh Cumbrian Winter weather.
The Champion garbs and more on offer at Thrift Store.
Pop Culture Posters
If you have music, film, TV and general culture lovers to buy for this Christmas then you will definitely want to get them something from this stall.
With a range of about 1,000 different posters and prints to choose from you are almost guaranteed to find someone you know’s favourite band, movie, car or art style they love immortalised in print for them to get up on their walls and enjoy viewing.
The best thing about this stall is the quality of some of the prints as I find with a lot of different places you can buy prints they may not be of the best resolution.
For some guaranteed quality prints this is the best place to go for your pop culture loving mates, family or partners.
The wide range of prints on offer at the Pop Culture Poster stall.
The Wood Works
For people who enjoy a bit of art or sculpture this is a must one stop shop for all things wooden.
The wood works have everything from buddhist sculptures, large ornamental dragons, animals and even pop culture figures such as bart simpson cut and carved into a thing of beauty which are perfect for the garden or indoor use.
Some of the sculptures on display at the Wood Works.
O’Donnell Moonshine
It wouldn’t be Christmas without a little tipple and by god O’Donnell Moonshine has it by the bucket load or should we say mason Jar load.
Their liqueur comes in a variety of different flavours both seasonal and signature, such as: sticky toffee, roasted apple, very cherry and interestingly macadamia and cookie.
We sampled the sticky toffee and roasted apple liqueurs and the sticky toffee one was devilishly moreish and had a balance of a sweet flavour profile packed with an alcoholic kick.
Whereas the roasted apple one was more spicy in flavour with a sharp apple aftertaste. It would be a great alternative to Sourz or other big brand alcohols as a Christmas gift for those that partake in indulging in a bit of booze.
The drinks of dreams at O’Donnell’s Moonshine stall.