Tuesday 31 December is not only the last day of 2024, but also the last day of the Ghent Winter Festival. This year’s festival that is much more than just a Christmas market has been a resounding success. During the past 4 weeks the event has attracted some 2.5 million visitors. The stall holders says that business has been brisk since the Winter Festival opened on 5 December.
Visitors have come from far and wide. A trader with a stall selling Christmas jerseys and Christmas socks told VRT News that “I see domestic tourists, but also a lot of foreign tourists, of course a lot of people from Ghent and during the week a lot of students too. What is noticeable among the students is that they almost all pay by card they don’t use cash anymore. That is not a problem, everyone is welcome”.
The Ghent Winter Festival’s organisor Quinten Goekint says that the events attract a diverse range of people.
"I’m here every day and I see a big mix of people. There are teenagers, but also older people. There are a lot of tourists from just about everywhere. I hear Ghent dialect and Spanish and everything in between”.
Since the first Ghent Winter Festival in 2013 visitors to the event have become more international. "When we started in 2013 it was a Christmas market by and for the people of Ghent. Since then it has become much more international."
Not only has the type of visitor changed over the years, but a lot other things have too. The festival now uses recyclable beakers and catering material and there have been changes with regard to security. Furthermore, the public’s expectations and tastes have also changed over the years, Quinten Goekint told VRT News.