Holidazzle Market

[Nathan]

How are they going to track that you've already paid when you go back a second, third time, etc.?

I hate to be an optimist, but don't you think the organizers would have thought of this?

To me it sounds like he's agreeing with you that it's weird that they haven't stated how they are doing this, but is hoping for the sake of the event that they have it figured out. In my interpretation the snark is aimed more at the event organizers and less at you.

[FISHMANPET]

I actually brought up this same point in the "Upcoming Downtown Projects" thread where the Holiday market was first discussed:

How will they track if you've paid or not? Either they're tracking somehow, at which point the administrative overhead (someone checking IDs and referencing paid customers) must surely wipe out the money gained, or you get some admission token you have to keep, and what are the odds people are going to actually hold on to that all season?

[Aville_37]

:

I apologize - I guess you caught me in one of my moments when I first responded. Must be that time of month. My "snarky" response wasn't specifically addressed to you, but like others have said, just general snarky posts on here at general.

[Silophant]

Walked by the opening of the Christmas Market tonight, and will be visiting with my family later in the evening. Long line to get in, so its going well so far.

On the entry fee, "$3-6" appears to mean that it's $3 to get in on weekdays before 4pm, and $6 after 4pm and on weekends. Either way, you get some sort of season pass that means you don't pay again. So, not terribly expensive if you're going more than once, but unfortunate for people coming from out of town who will just visit the one time. Hopefully it'll be free or at least cheaper next year, once the sheds and things are paid for.

[grant1simons2]

It looked to be very full when I walked by around 3. Lots of families and happy kids. I think it's wonderful.

Now if only we do something about Peavey Plaza...

[Minneboy]

From what I've seen on tv etc, I'm wondering why they can't do something with these plywood buildings. Some paint and decorations would go a long way. I'm not sure if there are any holiday lights but those too.

[John]

I walked by it twice today and agree it will be a great success. Seeing it from my condo , it could use much more holiday lighting (other than white) and they should expand the kiosks onto Nicollet Mall. Next year

[twinkess]

Wow. Lots of families downtown tonight. Walked through Macy's and it seemed busier than previous years holiday weekends. Target was packed. I walked past the market and lots of family's taking pictures and shopping. Tonight at least the market looks like a winner.

[mplsjaromir]

Circus is in town.

[David Greene]

On the entry fee, "$3-6" appears to mean that it's $3 to get in on weekdays before 4pm, and $6 after 4pm and on weekends. Either way, you get some sort of season pass that means you don't pay again.

I's not clear how the season pass works, though. Is a season pass bought for $3 good after 4pm and on weekends? Is the $6 season pass good on weekdays before 4pm? Or do you have to buy two passes for the two different tiers?

[David Greene]

They were letting people in for free Friday before 4pm so we lucked out. We immediate experienced a big problem: the space is no place for a stroller. Frankly, the layout wasn't very well thought out for families. Even families with older kids had trouble keeping them in the narrow lines between booths. The lack of enough ramps makes the space challenging for strollers and the disabled. We saw a guy in a wheelchair down on the lower level and had no idea how he got there.

The Carousel was some old decrepit portable unit. The kids liked it just fine but it was embarrassing, really, for a "new" thing trying to get off the ground.

Good luck buying anything at a booth. The sea of humanity will just push you along. If I were a vendor, I'd be pissed.

On the other hand, the street level with the free stuff was barren. It was fun to listen to a story read by Chris Shaffer and the reindeer pen was interesting for the kids but those two things plus a couple of old floats left two blocks of closed-off street pretty barren. It would have worked much better with the free stuff in Peavy and the actual market in the street.

Still, we may go back. Not sure yet because it was *such* a pain in the butt to get around. We're not sure the little guy will tolerate a carrier anymore.

[Silophant]

On the entry fee, "$3-6" appears to mean that it's $3 to get in on weekdays before 4pm, and $6 after 4pm and on weekends. Either way, you get some sort of season pass that means you don't pay again.

I's not clear how the season pass works, though. Is a season pass bought for $3 good after 4pm and on weekends? Is the $6 season pass good on weekdays before 4pm? Or do you have to buy two passes for the two different tiers?

Once you get a pass, its good for the rest of the season, no matter what you paid for it. I also thought it was strange.

Agreed that the aisles between the vendors are far too narrow. I think that the market is a really good idea, but I hope that they're learning lessons from this year and it'll be much improved next year.

[FISHMANPET]

What are the mechanics of the pass? Like, is it a thing you have to carry with you? Are you on some list?

[MinnMonkey]

They were letting people in for free Friday before 4pm so we lucked out. We immediate experienced a big problem: the space is no place for a stroller. Frankly, the layout wasn't very well thought out for families. Even families with older kids had trouble keeping them in the narrow lines between booths. The lack of enough ramps makes the space challenging for strollers and the disabled. We saw a guy in a wheelchair down on the lower level and had no idea how he got there.

The Carousel was some old decrepit portable unit. The kids liked it just fine but it was embarrassing, really, for a "new" thing trying to get off the ground.

Good luck buying anything at a booth. The sea of humanity will just push you along. If I were a vendor, I'd be pissed.

On the other hand, the street level with the free stuff was barren. It was fun to listen to a story read by Chris Shaffer and the reindeer pen was interesting for the kids but those two things plus a couple of old floats left two blocks of closed-off street pretty barren. It would have worked much better with the free stuff in Peavy and the actual market in the street.

Still, we may go back. Not sure yet because it was *such* a pain in the butt to get around. We're not sure the little guy will tolerate a carrier anymore.

Completely agree with everything you said. I don't know if they were expecting so many people, but Peavey Plaza is just way to small to accommodate an event like this. We went in and turned around after 10 minutes because it was just too crowded.

My hope for next year is that the line Nicollet Mall with the vendor buildings, much like the Farmers Market is laid out. Peavey Plaza should return to a skating rink and maybe have a pay to enter beer garden or something similar.

[MinnMonkey]

What are the mechanics of the pass? Like, is it a thing you have to carry with you? Are you on some list?

It's basically just a paper receipt that you present at future visits. Fairly underwhelming. A card or button would have been much better in my opinion.

[Aville_37]

They were letting people in for free Friday before 4pm so we lucked out. We immediate experienced a big problem: the space is no place for a stroller. Frankly, the layout wasn't very well thought out for families. Even families with older kids had trouble keeping them in the narrow lines between booths. The lack of enough ramps makes the space challenging for strollers and the disabled. We saw a guy in a wheelchair down on the lower level and had no idea how he got there.

The Carousel was some old decrepit portable unit. The kids liked it just fine but it was embarrassing, really, for a "new" thing trying to get off the ground.

Good luck buying anything at a booth. The sea of humanity will just push you along. If I were a vendor, I'd be pissed.

On the other hand, the street level with the free stuff was barren. It was fun to listen to a story read by Chris Shaffer and the reindeer pen was interesting for the kids but those two things plus a couple of old floats left two blocks of closed-off street pretty barren. It would have worked much better with the free stuff in Peavy and the actual market in the street.

Still, we may go back. Not sure yet because it was *such* a pain in the butt to get around. We're not sure the little guy will tolerate a carrier anymore.

Completely agree with everything you said. I don't know if they were expecting so many people, but Peavey Plaza is just way to small to accommodate an event like this. We went in and turned around after 10 minutes because it was just too crowded.

My hope for next year is that the line Nicollet Mall with the vendor buildings, much like the Farmers Market is laid out. Peavey Plaza should return to a skating rink and maybe have a pay to enter beer garden or something similar.

I agree. The street level along Nicollet needs to be better activated with more free attractions - ice carving, snow sculptures and I too think it would be better to have the booths/vendors lining the mall. Having season-long ice-skating back in Peavey would also be a big draw - not just one nice along Nicollet. A "beer" garden with seating/heat lamps, a stage for music, etc. also makes sense down in Peavey. I have hopes it will be better next year, but I am still happy we have something else to do downtown for the Christmas season. People are posting negative comments about it - but the markets in Chicago and other cities are very similar - shopping/drinking, etc. except for an entrance fee - which definitely needs to go away! My only other suggestions would be to truly market this as being a multi-winter holiday event if we are so afraid to call it a Christmas village/market. Include more vendors selling items for Hanukkah, Kwanza, etc. Be nice if they also upped the Swedish angle since MN is known so well for it's Swedish heritage. How about a St. Lucia parade down Nicollet or event? I know - I like everyone else has ideas about how I think it can be improved but again this year is a start to hopefully a great event/tradition downtown.

[David Greene]

As someone of strong German heritage, I appreciated the theme though I *really* wish the mustard shop had been open.

[mullen]

yes i agree the plaza space is just too cramped for everything. i could see this moving to a larger surface lot in future years because the first weekend saw big crowds. or just have the huts on the sidewalk for a few blocks of the mall. make it a strolling experience.

[grant1simons2]

I can see it moving to "The Commons" when that's completed. Or having the shops lined on Nicollet and have the reindeer, carousel, and stage moved to "The Commons". My dream is what they have planned previously with the stadium is make a green way E->W, replacing 5th st. We could have greenery along there, then in the winter add some pines and then put in the shops starting at Nicollet Mall extending down to 5th ave.

[Minneboy]

yes i agree the plaza space is just too cramped for everything. i could see this moving to a larger surface lot in future years because the first weekend saw big crowds. or just have the huts on the sidewalk for a few blocks of the mall. make it a strolling experience.

Too bad that Block E was never built as a downtown park. Could have been real cute there. The new park that will be built down at the new stadium will be too far from the retail markets and so is the Ritz block currently.