Starting this weekend, the first Christmas markets will offer mulled wine and an Advent atmosphere to customers, but there will be fewer festive lights and even restrictions in some places. Certain cities will not stage a Christmas fair or skimp on festive lights.

Energy crisis spoils celebrations in Germany

Stalls with mulled wine, traditional Christmas food, gingerbread houses, decorations and lights: the spirit of Christmas used to attract millions to the Advent fairs all across Europe just a few years ago. This year, however, the festive spirit appears rather subdued, again. After the restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s holiday in Germany has been spoiled by the sanctions policy, the energy crisis and inflation. The fair has become too costly for both sellers and buyers, and the necessary energy saving are also making things more difficult.

The German Environmental Aid Organisation recently called for Christmas lights to be completely avoided this year in order to save energy, or at least limit them to one Christmas tree per city. In the city of Daun, for example, the world-famous castle quarter will not be illuminated at all this year.

In other cities, such as Bamberg, Regensburg, Ludwigshafen or the Bavarian capital Munich, fairs will be held but organisers will use with LED lighting, and for shorter periods of time. But it’s not just Advent markets that try to skimp on electricity. During the Christmas season, the towns and villages tend to decorate their main streets with festive lights, but this too appears to be a thing of the past as decorative lights are partly or fully cancelled in several places. In a bid to preserve its festive atmosphere, the city of Bremen will install festive lighting but in a much more modest manner and only for 6 hours a day. In Dusseldorf, Christmas lights will be on for even less, just 5 hours each day, compared to the traditional 15 hours.

Besides the Christmas markets, ice rinks are also part of the attraction in many places. However, the crisis is forcing some municipalities not to open them this year, like in the cities of Bielefeld and Worms. In Wiesbaden, visitors can skate on plastic instead of ice, while in Bad Neuenahr there will be roller skating instead.

Austria’s most famous and biggest Christmas market has also opted for austerity. As usual, the fair will on Vienna’s Rathausplatz, but in more modest circumstances and with severe restrictions. For example, the number of market stalls will be reduced by around a third, giving priority to small and family businesses.

This year, LED lighting will be used exclusively and the lighting time will be reduced by about one hour. There will be far fewer decorations and light strings than in the past. The Christmas market at Rathausplatz will be open for a total of 38 days, about a week shorter than last year.

Switzerland prepares for dim Christmas atmosphere

Zurich’s Bellevue is also trying to save money by reducing festive light displays. Exclusively LED lights will be used everywhere and Christmas illumination will be much more modest in terms of quantity. Bern has also decided on a similar cost-cutting measure, opting to cancel the famous Monday light shows in Rendez-Vous Bundesplatz. The municipality will switch off Christmas lights at 10 pm, and the ice-rink in Bundesplatz will be replaced by hard plastic suitable for roller skating.

The city of Lucerne, on the other hand, wants to do without Christmas lights this year. The city will use 500 candle lanterns to make sure that it’s not completely shrouded in darkness. It is also uncertain whether the city will erect a central Christmas tree.

Denmark and UK to create Christmas atmosphere, differently

Denmark’s capital is planning a 60-percent reduction in this year’s Christmas light displays, while some other towns will only light up between 3 pm and 9 pm. Christmas decorations will only be illuminated on 27 November, the first Sunday of Advent, two weeks later than before. As in previous years, Christmas ornaments will be in their place by mid-November, but the traditional Christmas elk will not be on display in Kultorvet Square this year. Christmas light displays will be switched off on 26 December.

The United Kingdom cannot afford to decorate public spaces and Christmas markets in the usual fashion either, with local councils deciding on cost-cutting measures across the country. Christmas in Britain will look markedly different this year as a number of traditional light displays will no longer go ahead. Local authorities in Cambridgeshire, Surrey, Bristol, Kent and Buckinghamshire announced the disappointing news that will mean hundreds of thousands of families miss out on free feel-good light shows over the Christmas period. Southampton, Glasgow and Leeds have cancelled Christmas markets. In London’s Oxford Street, the iconic strip of lights will use LED bulbs for limited hours this year in a bid to save money.

Brussels alone decides to stage one of the most energy-intensive festivities

With the rising energy prices crippling companies and households alike, towns such as Vilvoorde, Aarschot, Tienen and Ghent have decided to forgo ice skating rinks at their respective Christmas markets in favour of alternatives. Ghent, for example, has opted for a roller skating rink. Brussels, however, has decided to stick to tradition and keep its Winter Wonders ice rink on Place De Brouckere during the Christmas market on grounds that the city „cannot take away all the fun from the public”. The decision was sharply criticised by several members of the city council, deeming it inconceivable that the capital has opted for such an energy-consuming programme while it believes that it can offset its high consumption by using a few hundred light bulbs less. In France, lighting will be turned off earlier around major attractions and far fewer landmark structures will be decorated with festive light strings.