Christmas market footfall down, organisers say

The number of visitors to York's annual Christmas Market was down by almost a quarter in 2025 compared to the previous year, organisers have said.

However, tourist organisation Make It York said a survey of 300 people during the event showed visitor satisfaction levels had risen to 92%.

The total number of people in Parliament Street was 961,730 during the market, although issues with cameras collecting data meant some of that figure had to be estimated, according to Make It York.

The data said footfall to the market, which ran from 13 November to 21 December, was down from 1.24 million visitors in 2024.

Make It York has also previously said the market generates £81m in revenue, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The online survey, which attracted 390 response by visitors, found satisfaction levels had risen from 50%.

The organisation said the favourite feature for visitors was the festive atmosphere, followed by the variety of traders and the food and drink stalls.

The most popular idea to improve the event was to have more craft stalls and less serving food and alcohol, which some of those surveyed dubbed repetitive.

Make it York said the majority of visitors were couples followed by small friend groups, families and single visitors, with the majority aged over 40.

Most came from outside the city and almost half of them drove to the market.

A fifth of them came from East and South Yorkshire, compared to 4% from North Yorkshire excluding the city of York, and 18% came from West Yorkshire.

UK visitors accounted for 99% of the total, with the remaining 1% being international visitors.

Traders were also surveyed by the organisation and 40% of the 63 asked for an opinion stating revenues were better than in previous years, 42% said they were the same as before while 18% said they had poorer returns than previously.

Traders said they liked the layout, thought the footfall was strong, felt supported by Make It York and found the security better than previous markets.

Challenges included wet weather, toilets and welfare facilities, lighting outside of traders' chalets and accessibility including a lack of wheelchair ramps.

A council review into how future markets operate was ongoing after last year's event faced access issues due to restrictions barring vehicles from the city centre, the organisation said.

The Anti-Terror Traffic Regulation Order (ATTRO), approved following a North Yorkshire Police request to deter vehicle attacks, barred Blue Badge holders and other vehicles from the city centre while the market was open.

The market has faced criticism in the past because of concerns about overcrowding and accessibility, but Make it York said it had made changes ahead of the 2025 event.

Make it York said planning was under way for this year's market.

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