A RIP-OFF Christmas market where feeding your family would cost £124 has been slammed.
The Tower Festival Headland in Blackpool boasts a foot-long snow slide and candy cane bungee trampoline to pull in crowds.
STEVE ALLENLast year’s Christmas By The Sea saw record numbers attend[/caption]
STEVE ALLEN‘Star Flyer’ one of the tallest swings in Europe will return to Blackpool’s Christmas market (pic of Jade James)[/caption]
STEVE ALLENChristmas By The Sea will be complemented by a full Illuminations display along the seafront (pic of Lindsay Young with her son)[/caption]
STEVE ALLENCustomers will be charged £6 for either beer or hot chocolate[/caption]
STEVE ALLENFood stall holders are charging £7 for a Bratwurst sausage[/caption]
STEVE ALLENIt will be free for families to go ice skating at the market and will be open from 5pm-9pm[/caption]
But prices for food and drinks have been slammed as “expensive”.
A family-of-four would have to pay a whopping £124 for four Yorkshire pudding wraps – filled with Christmas dinner toppings – and two drinks each.
And another kick in the teeth is lager costs the same as hot chocolate – at a whopping £6.
Meanwhile, food stall holders are charging £7 for a Bratwurst sausage and £8 for a chicken curry.
Jill Roberts, 77, a retired hairdresser from Cardiff, said: “It is a lovely market.
“I love seeing all the children’s happy faces and hearing them laughing and having a good time.
“I’ve really enjoyed walking around the markets and I really don’t want to go home.
“It’s seems value for money but I think they have to set sensible prices for families to be able to come here and enjoy themselves.”
Linda Pitt, 74, a retired hairdresser, said: “Everyone loves walking around a Christmas market.
“It will look even better at night when everything is lit up.
“I did notice that the food and drink prices were a little expensive.
“That might put some people off who can’t afford it.
“It could get quite expensive if a family has two children they want to go on the rides and then get something to eat and drink after.
“I wouldn’t be wanting to pay £7 for a bratwurst.”
Reece Marriott, 23, a postman from Staffordshire, said: “It is the first time I’ve been to Blackpool and it market is good.
“There’s a lot of variety of stalls and it compares really well to the Christmas markets I’ve been to.
“But the advantages here are that it is on the seafront and you’ve great views of the ocean and the tower.
“The prices of the food and drink is quite high but I did expect that. Everything has gone up with the cost of living. I’m not sure I’d pay £7 for a German sausage.”
Jade James, 23, a retail assistant, from Staffordshire, said: “I love coming to Blackpool and it is one of my favourite places.
“When I saw the Christmas markets posted on Facebook, I just had to come.
“I have been to the one in Birmingham but this is more spacious.
“Everything is more expensive at the Christmas markets but I expected that and I don’t think it’s any more expensive than anywhere else.”
Lindsay Young, 36, from Blackpool, was with her three-year-old son, Stewart Luke.
She said: “We are really enjoying the markets so far. I’ve just bought my son a hot chocolate and it cost me £6.
“It did have whipped cream, marshmallows and a flake but it was expensive.
“It does start to get expensive with all the rides too, but it is good for the town.
“I know that a few people who are coming down from Scotland just for the markets.
“It is very popular.”
Unlike Blackpool’s Christmas market – Budapest in Hungary takes the crown for the cheapest Christmas market in Europe.
And see what £20 can get you at Manchester’s famous Christmas market.
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