The Occupational Therapy Adaptations Conference (OTAC), on 10 December. Free to attend, and there's usually a decent spread on.
We've been on Above Bar Street every December since 2015, wedged in between the Bargate and the Marlands, taking up a good bit more than half the precinct. Our stallholders are out there from first light in the proper Southampton rain, mulling wine you'll later describe to a friend as "a bit dear", and selling some really nice bits alongside, to be fair, a fair amount of tat. Some people call it claustrophobic. We prefer cosy. Either way the pints are a tenner, and once again, Southampton has pulled Christmas out of the bag.
Live music most nights, plus a DJ set from Craig David's Mate. The bloke who does the singing has been doing roughly the same set since 2019, and we've grown quite fond of it.
Sixty-odd cabins, roughly nine of them open at any one time, selling gifts, sweets, and the sort of thing you buy in December and then find in a drawer in April.
We're on the bit of pavement you were quite fond of, a short walk from Westquay and about four minutes from the Bargate. Less if it's raining.
A few hundred photos of the place, most of them taken on a fairly quiet Tuesday. Have a look and make your own mind up.
The market's been going since 2015, though the general idea, standing about in the cold paying too much for a sausage, is a fair bit older than that. Medieval, probably. Nobody's really looked into it.
Southampton is where the Titanic set off from, which is a fact the city has decided to be proud of. We don't do a stall about that one. It felt like a lot.
The Bargate, which you'll see all over this website, is about 800 years old, making it roughly 800 years older than the market. We'd like to think it's proud of us. It hasn't said.
There's a few different bits to the market, all squeezed into the half of the precinct we've taken over. Have a wander. And do stop at a standing table on the way, they get a bit lonely.
Times are rough guides. If a cabin looks shut, it's probably just resting.
We've refined this over the years, mostly based on you lot complaining. So here's how it tends to go.
You'll come in off Above Bar Street, somewhere near the Bargate. Turn round to say something to whoever you came with. They've gone. That bit's normal, don't worry about it.
A few stalls take card, though not the one you want. There's a cashpoint by the Poundland, so head for that, and maybe take out a bit more than feels sensible.
Get a pint (a tenner, we know) and a sausage in what we're allowed to call a baguette. It's a finger roll. We all know it's a finger roll.
Take it over to one of the standing tables, of which there's usually a fair few going spare, and have a nice time. That's the main thing, really.
Somewhere in the market, tucked in among the stalls, there's a golden pineapple. Find it before anyone else does and you get free drinks and sausages for the rest of the day. Ask a stallholder if you're stuck. They'll act like they've no idea what you're on about, but they know.
After last year, when the winner ended up in Southampton General on the Saturday night, "unlimited" is now roughly however much a stallholder reckons you can handle. Not real gold, not for eating, and please don't try to climb it. Somebody tried to climb it.
A few from recent years, straight off the camera. Have a proper look, and make your own mind up.
We've put a proper bit of effort into the line-up this year. Headlining is Craig David's Mate, doing a DJ set. Craig's from Southampton, as someone will tell you within about four minutes of arriving, and his mate does it for a good deal less. Full bill's below.
A DJ set, nightly, over by the bratwurst. He's not Craig David, but they were at school together (apparently), and he's more than happy to talk about it. Doors from seven.
84% of you would recommend us, which we think is lovely. Here's a handful of the actual reviews people have left, all completely real, and all given five stars by us, because we're generous like that.
Tenner for a pint, plus a free guilt trip about your personal finances. Can't imagine why you're not packed.
Why oh why, at the busiest time of the year for shopping, do we obstruct more than half the pedestrian precinct with this horrendous market? All it sells is crap tat and unhealthy food.
Germans did a better job of the market.
Buckfast, vomit and fighting? Yeeeeessss.
Ordered a baguette. Received a finger roll. Round here, we just call them baguettes.
Hello pavement space, I've missed you.
Mostly the same handful, to be fair. Here they are, along with roughly what we tend to tell people.
There's the Westquay car parks, and there's the park and ride. The park and ride is lovely, right up until the moment you actually need to get home, at which point it quietly becomes a rumour.
Yes. Probably. It's one of those things that's definitely happening and also might not be open when you get there. Best thing is to just have a look when you're down, and manage your expectations on the way.
They're inspected. Each morning a man in a hi-vis has a good look at them for a bit, gives a nod, and wanders off. We're not entirely sure what the nod means, but he seems happy enough.
It's a tenner. We know. We've had a lot of feedback on this, we've read all of it, and it's still a tenner.
They'll love it. Just bring a bit more money than you've mentally set aside, and be ready to explain why they can't go on every single ride. You will lose that conversation, by the way.
Some stalls do, though never the one you're actually standing at. There's a cashpoint by the Poundland, so it's worth getting a bit of cash out before you start.
Stick the app on your phone for the occasional update, opening dates, the odd ride being shut, that sort of thing. It works offline as well, which helps, because the market has a habit of taking out the roads and the phone signal at roughly the same time.
It's about the only reliable way to find out we've lost Santa again.
8,800 people already follow along and get the odd update, usually about a fortnight before Mariah Carey starts up in the TK Maxx down the road. Some are here for the news. A fair few are just here to argue with us in the comments, which is fine, that's half the fun.