I visited Sutton Coldfield’s first-ever Christmas market and there’s one stand-out reason to go

With Sutton Coldfield’s big city ‘rival’ already past its halfway point, I headed to the town’s first ever Christmas Market to see what it had to offer. Sutton has been revived in recent years with monthly food and craft markets, a food festival in the summer and new owners at the Gracechurch Centre actively filling gaps in its shops ahead of its plans to transform the site for the 21 ^st century.

And this year the town centre is hosting its first-ever multi-day Christmas Market, which opened on Thursday (November 28), organised by Visit Sutton Coldfield BID, working with LSD Promotions which is running it. It opens six days a week, Tuesday to Sunday, right up to and including the Sunday, December 22.

The town’s Parade, the pedestrianised area between the Gracechurch and the largely city council-owned row of shops the opposite side, is crammed with wooden chalets with bright lights beckoning shoppers in. But what is it like? And how does it compare with Birmingham ’s Frankfurt German Market.

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The second question is quicker to answer. Sutton’s festive market is inevitably on a smaller scale. While the chalet set up is similar, the comparisons end there. This isn’t two-pint steins of lager, a singing mousse, or the bustling crowd.

It’s smaller, more intimate and for me crucially features a number of local businesses. Dough ‘ay we, selling homemade cookie pies, originally hails from the Black Country but is now based just minutes away from the market in Sutton Coldfield 's Moat House neighbouring the college on Lichfield Road.

Another local business, Slices of Sweetness, sells flavours like Oreo & Nutella, Toblerone and Ferrero Rocher, Apple & Blackcurrant and Choc Orange - £3.50 a slice or four for £12. And you can also support fellow Sutton business the Gooey Brownie Co – which sells homemade brownies baked in Wylde Green by Joleen.

Erdington's Hyacinth Candle Company is also selling fragranced wax melts, reed and car diffusers, alongside hand and body sets, all natural made with soy-based or rape seed oil and coconut wax.

Slightly further afield, but still Brum-based is florist Tiddly Tulips from Edgbaston, selling wreaths and dried bouquets as well as fresh flowers. Pimms and Gins from Kenilworth in Warwickshire had been at Sutton’s summer food market and liked it so much they’re returned for the Christmas Market edition.

And another brownie maker, The Mad Batter Bakes, is Leanne’s homemade bakes business manned by her boyfriend Jake. These are local entrepreneurs grafting in the chill of a winter market – with treats you just won’t quite find anywhere else.

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One stall had a range of cedarwood gifts, trinket boxes, frames and lights. Open the wooden boxes up and a pleasant spicy cedar waft hits the senses. Another Nova Gift Box UK, handbags, jewellery and accessories.

One end is full of hot food to eat on the spot – wagyu, wild boar, venison or halloumi burgers, which you can build with your own toppings. A bar in a trailer opposite was blasting out music to give the market some atmosphere.

One stand had Mediterranean sweet and savoury treats, including baklavas, olives and Turkish delights. While Koranese had Korean corn dogs with mozzarella cheese or chicken sausage versions – all Halal. There’s an Indonesian Street Food Stall, another offering loaded fries, hot dogs and mac and cheese.

As well as Pimms and Gins for those wanting a tipple, the Fingerprint Brewing Company has a Craft Bar with Jeremy Clarkson’s Hawkstone Premium Lager (£5.50), Wylam Jakehead IPA, and Nothing Bound Cable Bay Pale Ale – both £6.

They also do Guinness for a fiver or Hawkstone ciders, a standard at £5 or hedgerow dark fruit for 50p extra. Gluhwein was £6 (it’s £6.50 in Brum!) or mulled cider for £5. And mulled apple juice at £4.

One stall was packed with fragrances, another Bake4Lov sold plant-based cakes for Vegans or those with allergies. While Hamza The Curry Man had a range of curries to take home and enjoy. Plus onion bhajis, pakoras and seekh kebabs. He’d had a run on samosas with more on their way.

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Bogarts has your Christmas cheese board covered with Cheshire cheeses, pickles and chutneys, and pickled onions delightfully named ring stingers! You’ve been pre-warned!

There’s also a bratwurst stall manned by Daniel Jones from Stourbridge who said he’d bizarrely served five Germans and been filmed by a German media channel. They might want to head on the Cross City Line to see if Victoria Square compares to Römerberg in Frankfurt.

The festive stalls in Sutton have brought a Christmas buzz to the town centre, boosting footfall that hopefully will feed back to the neighbouring shops, which pay rent year-round. Notably, the Christmas Market, so far, was very much weighted towards food, with few gift items. But visitors can head into the Gracechurch Centre, along the Parade or down to New Hall Walk as well. The idea of the market should not be to replace what is there.

Notably there were some seven stalls not yet open. BirminghamLive was told these have yet to be let – but there’s still time. It was a little bit of a shame that the first three chalets, as you approach from Birmingham Road were all empty as that’s your first impression of the market.

However, there’s more to come. A number of stalls are coming for the weekends – with pop-up gazebos expected to fill some spaces between chalets. And the weekend will see Christmas characters roaming the market. If you venture into the Gracechurch Centre there’s fairground attractions too.

A carousel, a ride with vehicles and another with bungee ropes for children to bounce up and down are available. There’s also a synthetic ice rink for youngster to have a go at skating. Add in free parking at seven city centre car parks on Thursdays, Fridays and at weekends, or discounted spaces at the Gracechurch Centre on Sundays and what is there to lose?

Sutton’s Christmas Market isn’t big, bold and brash and quite as bustling as its more famous Birmingham counterpart. It is more intimate, selling home-made goods, many by entrepreneurs who could be your neighbour. It is also more family-friendly and worth a visit, particularly anytime you’re hungry or fancy a Christmas tipple….