IT is hoped that Chester's new multimillion pound indoor market will help entice people to book a Christmas shopping break in the city.

Chester Market  is the latest chapter in the city's 700-year-old history of trading.

The 'modern traditional market' is inspired by the spread of similar venues across Europe. 

It features high-quality retailers from fishmongers to grocers, vintage clothes to house plants. 

And there's a global tour of street food outlets, too, from Mexican tacos to Thai curries, which can be enjoyed in the communal food court, with its large bar and stage for live performances.

The indoor market is a great addition to Christmas in Chester, which also includes the traditional Christmas Market, celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2022 (until December 21).

Now open on Town Hall Square, the market's 70 yuletide cabins feature independent and local traders selling everything from quirky cutlery to festival fashion. 

There will also be a Christmas Bazaar for the first time on the famous medieval Rows, the open first-floor walkways that line the streets at the heart of the city.

On Thursday evenings and weekends (until December 18), choirs will sing carols here, while children can listen to stories, and kids and adults can get stuck into making crafts.

Santa will make appearances in his Enchanted Grotto in the Grosvenor Shopping Centre (November 25-December 24) and on Chester Boat's special Santa Cruises on the River Dee (December 4, 10 and 17). 

English Heritage will host its first Christmas at Chester Castle ( November 26). 

The free event will feature carol singing in the courtyard and visitors will be able to meet St Nicholas, view the 12th-century Agricola Tower and its medieval chapel, and find out about how Christmas was celebrated in past centuries.

Opening the festive season, the spectacular 12 Days of Christmas Parade takes to the streets on Thursday (November 24).

And Roman soldiers and the Lord of Misrule and his mischievous coterie of fire breathers, devils, skeletons and ice queens will hit the cobbles for the annual Winter Watch and Saturnalia Parade (December 15).

The city's arts hub, Storyhouse, will stage Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen (December 10- January 15), and Chester Cathedral will flick the switch on its annual Christmas Tree Festival (November 24- January 8) with music from the choir.

There's more going on just outside the city, too. McArthurGlen Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet will host festive events and attractions, including the chance to ride the Big Wheel with Santa and his elves and to see the tallest Christmas tree in the North West. 
 

The Lanterns at Chester Zoo (until December 23) returns to transform the UK's second most-visited paid-for attraction into a wonderland. This year's journey, lit with amazing animal-shaped illuminated sculptures, features a Norwegian fairytale land with glowing castle and huge white bear, and a UV Bornean jungle with life-size orangutan puppets.