A Magical Weekend at Fountains Abbey: Our Best Christmas Market Yet

I’m still buzzing from the weekend — what an incredible Christmas market we had at the breathtaking Fountains Abbey! To be able to bring Little Bird to a UNESCO World Heritage Site is something I’ll never take for granted. Standing beneath centuries-old arches, with festive lights twinkling and the sound of laughter filling the winter air, it felt like we were part of something truly special.

But it’s important to be real about the highs and the lows. I was absolutely gutted for Fountains Abbey, our traders, our customers, and our staff that we were forced to cancel Saturday due to the relentless heavy rain. It’s never an easy call to make — in fact, it’s the worst part of this job. As an event organiser, you have to accept being both liked and disliked, sometimes within the same hour. Ultimately, the buck stops with me, and I had to make the decision no one wants to make. But it was the right decision. Protecting the safety of the public, traders, and our team will always come first, even when it breaks your heart to press pause on something so special.

And then, like a reward for our resilience, Sunday arrived — and what a day it was.

Yes, the load-in was tough. The site is historic, vast, and not exactly designed with modern market logistics in mind. Watching our team navigate it — alongside our amazing traders — was like witnessing the world’s most festive endurance sport. Yet no one moaned, no one lost heart. Everyone remained patient, upbeat, and determined. That spirit alone could have lit the whole abbey.

Hearing traders tell us it was their best ever trading day made every challenge worth it. When incredible businesses like Nicki Whattam Art and Blossom and Stone share that kind of feedback, you can’t help but feel overwhelmed with pride. They poured their hearts into their stalls, and seeing visitors respond with such enthusiasm was the perfect Christmas gift.

I left the weekend with a full heart — grateful for our team, proud of our traders, and humbled by the magic of Fountains Abbey. Markets are made of people, passion, and place. This weekend, we had all three in abundance.

Thank you, Fountains Abbey. Thank you, traders. Thank you, team.