‘Covid-friendly’ market to provide Christmas cheer

A number of plans have been drawn up to ensure Christmas goes ahead in Galway this year, with the woman behind the Eyre Square Christmas Market vowing that a modified event will proceed – offering the same experience as previous years in a Covid-19-safe environment.

Maria Moynihan Lee said planning for this year’s market has been underway since April and that a variety of plans have been put together to ensure it can take place in a series of different circumstances under Covid restrictions.

“What we’re doing is very detailed planning and working with the Council on making the market happen. It will be the same market in the way people know it to be and it will meet all expectations, but there will be a huge level of control,” said Ms Moynihan Lee.

While in normal circumstances, the word control might evoke a negative response, she said in the context of coronavirus, a controlled environment was imperative to adhering to public health guidelines and allowing the Market to proceed.

“The control will come from how people are communicated with before they arrive and while they are here, and how you make use of the space.

“What we are focused on is not diminishing the offering but, rather, altering the way you access that offering. It’s about the quality of the experience not being diminished, while also ensuring the health and safety of people,” said Ms Moynihan Lee, manager of Milestone Inventive, the company behind Galway Christmas Market for the past 10 years.

She said while control over numbers and distancing would obviously be a factor while Covid restrictions remained in place, their objective would be to ensure people felt comfortable in a safe environment, with control visible but unobtrusive to the experience.

“[The market] is a huge draw for the city at Christmas time. More than 65% of people are coming from outside town and using the hotels, the restaurants and doing their shopping here.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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