Offbeat: Strasbourg: end clap for the Christmas market, a week earlier than usual

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The Christmas market closed its doors on Saturday.

© BFM Alsace The 452nd edition of the Strasbourg Christmas market opened on Friday, November 25.

If the alleys still smell good wine, a smell of nostalgia is already felt in Strasbourg. The Christmas market closed its doors on Saturday evening. And even if the traders of the 313 chalets lost a week compared to last year, they say they are delighted with this new edition.

"This Christmas market was extraordinary by the influx of the world. We had Saturdays when we did not believe our eyes to see so many people. It's been a long time since we had seen that", explains Laurence Oliero, trader, at BFM Alsace.

The end of health restrictions has indeed enabled the return of foreign tourists, with "many Americans, Canadians".

Loss of turnover

This early closure still makes merchants lose turnover, like Max Mertz, who sits on a fifth of his usual total by closing on December 24.

"It's too early. Commercially, it's a wrong. Next week, there will be a lot of tourists in Strasbourg and they will no longer have a Christmas market," he regrets.

The festivities ended up a week earlier in order to reduce energy consumption. The nights were also canceled. They usually took place until 9 p.m. on Friday and until 10 p.m. on Saturday.