With somewhere in the region of 150 traders anticipated to be involved on the food and craft front, the Mountain View markets are back in action this weekend in Kilkenny.
While Saturday’s weather is expected to start rainy, the opening market is a nighttime affair, by which time conditions should have improved. Proceedings get underway at 4 p.m. and run until 10 p.m. If you’ve never been before, particularly in the evening, dress for the outdoors!
My tip as always is to arrive hungry as there is no shortage of food vendors from loaded fries to churros, Asian delicacies to Korean street food, fried chicken to salads, South African flavours and the rest.
On the craft front, makers and creators travel from all over Ireland to take part in the market, including handcrafted chopping block, cheeseboards and woodwork creations by Waterford’s Joey’s Woodcrafts, handmade silver jewellery from Carlow’s Blackbog Silver, Belfast based girly gifts Tullyhaize, organic raw honey from Cashel’s family run Windmill Honey Farm, The Sea Moss Boss whose products include Irish Sea Moss gel and sea vegetables from the North West Coast of Ireland, handcrafted jewellery from By Ivos Jewellry, and many more.
More room at the inn
The Mountain View Christmas markets have also expanded this year with the Cow Shed (which houses the café setup along with most craft traders), joined by a new festive marquee by the main building. As it was across the year, street food is to the fore, it’s very much dog and family-friendly, and if you fancy a tipple, it’s a BYOB event this Saturday with tunes until late.
Activities continue in Ballyhale each Sunday with day markets in the run in to Christmas, taking place 10am – 4pm on across December. With over 150 traders involved, it’s being touted as Ireland’s largest Christmas market, but to see that for yourself, you’ll have to head along. If you’re driving (it’s a bit of a walk), use the eircode R95NH31 to get you to the door (or at least the car park).
It’s about a 20-minute drive from Kilkenny city centre, or 90 minutes from Dublin.
Yulefest markets underway next week
As Christmas markets in Kilkenny continue to grow, the Yulefest Kilkenny Christmas markets are gearing up for a return and should begin setting up on The Parade in Kilkenny city centre this coming week. They’ll be open for business on weekends from Saturday 30 November.
