The 2023 Gdańsk Christmas Market has gone down in history. From 24 November to 23 December we celebrated beautifully in Gdańsk, and it did not go unnoticed – even beyond Poland. It was a period full of market premieres, and visitors appreciated, among other things, the flavours on offer at the market, confirmed by a 40 per cent increase in receipts issued by food and drink exhibitors compared with last year. We already look forward to welcoming you to the 2024 Christmas Market.
As every year, the pre-Christmas period in Gdańsk was lit up by the Christmas Market. Węglowy Square, Tkacka and Bogusławskiego Streets, the Arsenal and the Przedbramie Complex, thanks to their magical setting, set a wonderful mood that could be felt in every corner of the market. The atmosphere was created by exhibitors, visitors, a rich cultural programme and 20 illuminated figures – part of the Let's Light Up Christmas campaign, which until 2 February 2024 lights up the city at 13 locations across Gdańsk with 160 illuminated figures.
Appreciation for quality products
This year's Christmas Market drew crowds with its magic every single day. While we are still waiting for official statistics on the number of people who visited the market over the four weeks, exhibitors themselves report that footfall was higher. This can be seen in the statistics for receipts issued by the food and drink section of the Gdańsk Christmas Market – there were around 40 per cent more than the previous year. As can be seen, visitors appreciated, among other things, the quality products that dominated the market chalets. Visitors drank hot beverages from more than 155,000 market mugs.
In the food and drink zone, the market's hits were langos. Culinary connoisseurs also appreciated Kashubian smoked fish and fish preserves, honey and gingerbread, and raclette. Among the sweets, cinnamon buns reigned supreme, along with the traditional hot chocolate loved by children.
MORE ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS MARKET AT BOZONARODZENIOWY.PL
This year's edition of the market at the Arsenal was a wonderful alternative for those who value unique gifts. A premiere this year were the stalls of Polish fashion designers, whose original cuts caught the interest of not only women but also men. Natural, handmade candles, ceramics and Christmas decorations by local manufacturers proved hugely popular.
The market was graced by visitors from all over the world, and besides Poles, the dominant nationalities were residents of the United States, Spain, Italy, England, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Germany.
Market visitors found inspiration at more than 80 craft stalls and sampled flavours from 17 world cuisines at more than 60 stalls. The market supports local entrepreneurs, and this is reflected among exhibitors – as many as 99 came from the Pomeranian Voivodeship, including 52 from Gdańsk.
Market premieres
This year's market was full of premieres. Even before the event began, a completely refreshed website was created. bozonarodzeniowy.pl. Statistics show that visitors simply loved it
– it saw more than 60 per cent more visitors than last year's edition. Year-on-year growth
of almost 160 per cent was recorded in visits from foreign users. Besides the countries mentioned above, which had a strong influence on the figures given, the website also attracted visitors from more exotic locations such as East Timor, Bahrain, Turkmenistan, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Mauritius.
Among the premieres held during the Christmas Market, a Christmas Treasury of Ideas was set up in the Arsenal, featuring gift inspirations. These were put forward by exhibitors from the Arsenal, and visitors voted for the most beautiful, or the most practical, gift. Top honours went to a leather wallet from the company Vericone.
For the first time, Grand Prix awards were presented for the Christmas Market, honouring exhibitors in the categories Good Idea and Good Taste. The Grand Prix in the first category went to Glassware Art Studio Przemysław Huras for producing baubles blown from glass using the traditional method
and hand-painted. Meanwhile, honourable mentions went to Bartłomiej Siedlikowski
for fruity and festive scented decorations, and to Ivan Korchevny for hand-painted lanterns. In the Good Taste category, the Grand Prix was awarded to MANAT Mirosław Liss for Kashubian fish delicacies. Honourable mentions went to Pszczelarska Wyspa Alina Bylicka for honey products and to Robert Kaczkan for game food products.
The winners in both Grand Prix categories received, among other things, vouchers worth 3,000 PLN to be used towards purchasing a stall at next year's Christmas Market.
In the Przedbramie Complex, which was also a market novelty since it was included in the event in full for the first time, a toy-swapping campaign – toycrossing – was under way. At the Arsenal, visitors could swap books.
Another premiere was the Market for the City Centre campaign, a special day for those who had hosted the Gdańsk Christmas Market for four weeks. The most popular attraction was the State Forests' workshop, during which participants created green Christmas decorations.
For the first time, organisers prepared a dedicated festive offer for children from Gdańsk primary schools, "A Christmas Adventure at the Christmas Market". In Santa's Workshop, more than 300 children, under the care of elf animators, met Father Christmas, took part in workshops
and enjoyed attractions in the Christmas Travels Corner with Ambersky.
The organisers also established cooperation with the Gdańsk Museum, which ran a history lesson at the Arsenal, and with Gdańsk Zoo, thanks to which market participants could create lynx-themed Christmas tree decorations and support the "A Photo Without a Wild Cat" campaign.
Returning to the Christmas Travels Corner with Ambersky, this year saw the first-ever appearance at the event of a spinning coaster called the Spinning Barrels. There was also a Gdańsk Carousel, made this year at an Italian manufactory. The Corner also featured Father Christmas's sleigh
– a VR journey and a Ferris Wheel. All the attractions also proved highly popular.
A charitable market
For years, visitors to the Gdańsk Christmas Market have been able to join charitable campaigns supporting the Hospice Foundation. Besides volunteers collecting donations for the Foundation, help was also given in other ways. GPEC Group, together with Amberexpo, raised funds in an original, festive way.
At GPEC Group's winter chalet, visitors could buy tickets entitling them to activate the "Magic of Christmas" (instaspot) at the touch of a button. Proceeds from the tickets will be donated to the Foundation's beneficiaries.
Cuddly toys from the Bear Gate also "encouraged" support for the Foundation. For three weeks of the market, the gate decorated the entrance to Santa's Workshop at the Arsenal, before 500 teddy bears were distributed, going on to the Gdańsk Tourist Organisation's chalet, where visitors received a teddy bear when they bought two market mugs. Traditionally, a portion of the proceeds from market mug sales will also go to the Foundation's account. More than 5,000 market mugs were sold throughout the market. The total amount currently raised through market campaigns for the Hospice Foundation stands at over 55,000 PLN, though we are still awaiting final figures.
Charitable campaigns were also held at the Arsenal. "Give a Future – Foster Care in Gdańsk"
– a campaign promoting adoption and support for foster families. Meanwhile, a local integration centre for people with intellectual disabilities organised two days of workshops during which decorations were made from salt dough, and the art of decoupage was taught. The centre's beneficiaries took part in the workshops, showcasing various handicrafts. These could be purchased as a way of supporting the centre's operations
It is also a tradition of the market to help those most in need. At the close of the market, in cooperation with the Municipal Family Support Centre in Gdańsk, a person was chosen to whom the market's organisers, the Gdańsk International Fair, donated a rehabilitation bed essential for daily functioning, along with basic necessities.
Meanwhile, immediately after the Christmas Market ended, a Christmas Eve dinner for those in need was held at the Arsenal, at the initiative of the Polish Chamber of Commerce for Restaurateurs and Hoteliers and the "Górka" Academic Chaplaincy operating at the Dominican Church of St Nicholas. Amberexpo, the market's organiser, rented the space for this special occasion and provided organisational support to help this noble cause.
The Gdańsk Christmas Market made headlines
Last year's success and second place in the European Best Christmas Markets 2023 poll gave the Gdańsk event even greater fame across the continent and beyond. It appeared almost constantly on social media. It featured on websites in Italy, including travel.thewom.it, appeared in a National Geographic article, while the French travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler called Gdańsk a "Fairy-tale city" – partly because of its Christmas Market – and included it among the 32 best places to spend Christmas and the festive season. It keeps distinguished company, alongside cities such as Berlin, London, Paris, Rome, Copenhagen and, further afield, New York, Hong Kong and Dubai.
More than 200 posts appeared on the market's social media, building a great atmosphere for the event and reaching 1.5 million people. Influencers, mainly those associated with food and drink, did not overlook Gdańsk's festive town. In traditional media, the market appeared, among other places
in live programmes on TVN24 and Polsat News, as well as in a further 6,400 media publications.
In total, thanks to media coverage, information about the Gdańsk Christmas Market was displayed more than 1.7 billion times.
A rich artistic programme
Every day, attractions from the artistic programme drew great interest. The biggest hit was, of course, the visits of Father Christmas, who appeared in Gdańsk's festive town as many as 15 times. In total, the daily programme featured 141 items, including concerts, theatrical performances, festive dances and karaoke. Character sketches were performed by the Gdańsk Garrison, and national stars also appeared on stage, such as Dorota Kolak – who read fairy tales to market visitors and invited them to Wybrzeże Theatre – and Joanna Jabłczyńska.
Market visitors could listen to carillon concerts, as well as admire performances by the Gdańsk Song
and Dance Ensemble. The Gdańsk Medical University Choir put on an impressive show, though the audience was most warmly received by a performance from the Słowiańska Dusza ensemble, which combined the festive repertoire of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. To finish, the ensemble performed the beautiful song "There's No City Like Gdańsk".
The programme also included the Writing Gdańsk Postcards campaign, organised by the City of Gdańsk and Kreatywna Pedagogika. The free workshops were held at the Arsenal.
During the market, the streets of Gdańsk's historic centre are transformed, thanks to beautiful illuminations, into
a festive town. This is thanks in part to the Strategic Partner of the Christmas Market and Gdańsk Illuminations – Gdańsk Waterworks.
The supporting partner of the market in Gdańsk is GPEC Group – sponsor of the Gdańsk Illuminations.
We are pleased to announce that MTG's operations team, in a record time of three days, completed the dismantling of the market infrastructure on 29 December 2023, and the site's original functions have been restored.
Organisers already look forward to welcoming you to the Gdańsk Christmas Market in 2024.