Manchester's iconic Christmas 2023 mug designs revealed
The collectible souvenir mugs will be on sale when the Christmas markets return next week
With just over a week to go until the opening of Manchester's world-famous Christmas markets, the design of the city's iconic Christmas mugs for 2023 have been revealed.
This year's edition feature festive Nutcracker designs with a distinctive Scandi feel.
The collectible souvenir mugs that for thousands of visitors to Manchester's Christmas markets help spell the start of the Christmas season, will be available at all of the city centre Christmas market sites from November 10.
Last year the Christmas mugs sold out completely the week before the markets closed, after Christmas Market lovers in Manchester got through a staggering 140,000 specially produced mugs. The sell-out saw market traders bringing out mugs from previous years to keep up with the demand.
Market bosses have this year ordered in 170,000 of the special edition mugs to try and ensure visitors to Manchester's Christmas markets can get their hands on one.
Customers will be asked to pay a deposit of £3.50 for their mug when they purchase a hot drink and can then either choose to return their mug to the stall afterwards to get their deposit back, or keep the mug and take it home with them as a souvenir of their visit to the markets.
Councillor Pat Karney, Manchester City Council's Christmas spokesperson, said: "Our iconic Christmas mugs are the must-have accessory of the festive season and absolutely no social media feed should be without one!
"With different designs every year the collectible mugs are highly sought after and even have Santa's seal of approval. Don't leave it too late to come and get yours!
"No-one does Christmas quite like Manchester and we can't wait to welcome everyone to Santa's favourite city and to our world-beating Christmas Markets again this year!"
Manchester's Christmas markets open on Friday 10 November and close on Thursday 21 December.
They will be open daily at the following times:
All craft stalls 10 am - 8 pm
All bars and food stalls 11 am - 9 pm
Father Christmas will take up residence in St Peter's Square after Remembrance Sunday.
The Ice Rink in Cathedral Gardens will be open for Christmas skaters from 2 November - 2 January. The food and drink stalls in Cathedral Gardens alongside the skate rink will remain open until 31 December.
For more information about Christmas in Manchester including this year's Festive Sundays and the fantastic Manchester Christmas Parade which is back again this year on Sunday 3 December, visit manchester.gov.uk/christmas