Every year, Albert Square is taken over by a giant santa, and 100s of little stalls selling ornaments, sweets, drinks, and amazing food!

No visit to the Christmas Markets would be complete without several cups of mulled wine – cue us all getting out our cameras and getting the obligatory selfies:

It is a real spectacle – there’s loads of decorations everywhere, however my favourite is of course the giant Santa:

If you want to meet Santa for real, check out this guide as to where you can meet him in the run up to the big day itself. I’m taking my niece next weekend to meet the man himself, and cannot wait.

So… we kind of got a bit carried away, and instead of getting presents we just ended up with a load of chocolate, sweets and this unreal Dr Pepper Fudge (which is divine)

After the fudge, we got pancakes with Nutella (yes, it’s as good as it sounds)

Rather than just seeing what we ate – let me tell you about the markets.

This year, there are over 350 stalls, across 10 different areas of the centre. We made a point of asking where the vendors have come from, and got speaking to a guy from Transylvania, a lady apparently from Lapland, then the usual suspects from France, Spain and of course Germany.

Each market boasts the finest in gift ideas, including jewellery, ceramic, handmade toys, puppets, clocks, glassware, and a market favourite, the limited edition. Manchester Christmas Market coffee and Gluhwein mugs.

Aside from the 2016 branded Manchester christmas market mugs, the stalls were selling clocks, glasses, puppets on string, wooden toys, handmade jewellery, and ceramic pots/jugs etc.

For the foodies – there were macaroons, pancakes, lots and lots of cheese, and the traditional bratwurst. All in all, it was a great evening, and I’m definitely going again before they disappear for another year.