THERE’S nothing better than a Christmas market to get you in the festive spirit – but what if you are bored of the same old market?
With tonnes of Christmas markets across the UK, the good news is that you don’t have to go to one that is just your bog-standard festive fix.
Instead, there are historically themed markets and ones that are actually anti-Christmas…
Here are some of the most unique and unusual Christmas markets across the UK:
AntiChristmas Fayre, London
We all know there are some Scrooges out there and this is the market for them.
Taking place on Sunday December 13 is the AntiChristmas Fayre at Unlocked Shoreditch, London.
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The market takes place between 12pm and 6pm and is home to a “demonic collection of cultural relics, unusual toys, occult trinkets,
and vintage & bespoke collectibles”.
Tickets cost £5 and you pay on the door.
Joulumyyjäiset Christmas Fair, London
Head to the Finnish Church in London for a Finnish Christmas market.
The market will take place between November 27 and 29 and then again between December 4 and 6.
Inside the church you will find lots of stalls with Finnish food products, crafted items, Moomin memorabilia and arts and crafts by local Finnish artists.
There will be barbeque sausages and salmon soup as well.
And for dessert you can pick up a Finnish cinnamon bun for £2.90 and a cup of hot glogi (Finnish mulled wine).
Rochester Dickensian Christmas Market
From December 5 to 6, you can head to Rochester’s Dickensian Christmas Festival.
The festival features street entertainment, readings, parades and even guaranteed snow.
Dickens’s characters will roam the streets as well such as Scrooge and Oliver Twist.
For a bite to eat, head to the Bavarian food village.
There will also be a funfair in the heart of the castle gardens and more than 120 stalls selling gifts.
Carnglaze Caverns Christmas Market, Cornwall
Down in Cornwall you can visit the former slate mine – Carnglaze Caverns – for a unique Christmas market which is like visiting Aladdin’s Cave.
The free-to-enter market takes place between November 28 and 29 and is inside The Rum Store in the upper cavern.
There is a bar to grab drinks from or a tea shed if you don’t want anything alcoholic.
Stalls will be selling different locally made Cornish items.
Combine visiting the market with then descending into the caves below which will be illuminated with fairy lights and an underground Santa’s grotto.
Kelham Island Victorian Christmas Market, Sheffield
At Kelham Island you can enjoy a Victorian Christmas Market between December 5 and 6.
The museum will be decked out with gas lamps and more than 80 stalls selling items made in Sheffield such as gifts, stocking fillers and food such as wood fired pizza.
You can even head to the Millowners Arms pub for a tipple.
There will be walkabout characters dressed in Victorian outfits as well as a Snow Queen on stilts.
And there will be live brass bands and choirs as well as traditional dancing and magic shows.
If that wasn’t enough, little ones can also help the elves in Santa’s Workshop before meeting the main man himself.
Tickets cost £8 per adult and £2 per child.
Ulverston Dickensian Christmas Festival, Cumbria
For another Dickensian Christmas market, head to Ulverston in the South Lake District between November 28 and 29.
The Ulverston Dickensian Christmas Festival turns a cobbled market town into a living 19th century set complete with Victorian costume hire and traditional swing boats.
Walking characters also perform as well as folk musicians, fire eaters and stilt walkers.
And of course, there will be plenty of stalls with more than 100 selling gifts and food to explore.
Christmas at Blists Hill, Shropshire
Blists Hill Victorian Town in Telford, Shropshire is a 54-acre open-air living history museum that recreates a working- class town from the 19th century.
And at Christmas it gets a complete makeover.
Between November 21 and January 4, visitors can explore the town transformed for Christmas with the theme ‘A Christmas Carol’.
Across the period, Victorian characters will roam the streets and there will be Victorian decorations across the town.
There will be carol singing performances, as well as freshly baked goods in the Bakery and fish and chips in the Chip Shop.
There will be horse harnessing demonstrations in Saw Mill Yard too and even a Christmas-themed tour with snow each hour.
Family activities include writing a Victorian letter to Father Christmas, printing your own Christmas posters and visiting two seasonal trails (which cost £5 each).
And of course there are fairground stalls, games and even some rides.
Tickets cost from £24 per adult and £12 per child.
Columbia Road Flower Market, London
Columbia Road Flower Market is the UK’s only dedicated street flower market and is great to visit at any time of the year.
But in December, the market transforms with freshly cut Christmas trees, holly, mistletoe, poinsettias and handmade wreaths every Sunday.
If you can’t make it on a Sunday, head to the same street on a Wednesday for late-night browsing with more than 60 independent shops staying open later than usual.
Totnes Christmas Markets & Late Night Shopping
Down in Devon across three Tuesdays (December 8, 15 and 22) Totnes high street closes to cars and opens to visitors with a load of market stalls.
All the surrounding shops stay open late as well.
The best thing about this market is that it is entirely bohemian and full of independent businesses.
Attend on December 8 to also catch the lantern parade that heads down the steep historic high street.