Columbus Circle Holiday Market

It wouldn’t be a proper holiday season in the city without visiting one of the many holiday pop-​up markets. The Columbus Circle market has really been stepping up it’s game in the past couple of years, imo.
This year especially was impressive with the shear number of shops they were able to cram in such a small space… it does feel a bit like Diagon alley. Anyhow, there are plenty of places to find gifts for friends and family. You can even make an afternoon out of it and grab a bite to eat at one of the many food vendors
The only unfortunate thing about this market is that it’s only around for a month out of the year!

Three stars because it is what it is. If you live in NYC it’s like going to a street fair. Once you’ve been it is the same drill in a different neighborhood. If you are a tourist you may enjoy the holiday experience at Columbus Circle. I find this area already too congested with traffic, both people and cars.
I prefer Bryant Park…

This market is almost identical to the Union Square Market in terms of size and configuration. The configuration is a bit confusing as well as cramped. Based on the area they have to work with I would have thought they could have spread it out a bit more.
The shops themselves are a good mixture and have a lot of locally made crafts. The food selection is also good, however the area with the «food court» needs to be redone. It’s a log jam in there and if you think about it, there is really no need for it since the park is right there with all it’s facilities.

I love the Christmas markets in NYC! They remind me of the Christkindlmarkts I’ve been to in Austria, minus the hot mulled wine you can just drink on the streets. *sigh* Still, Wafels & Dinges are just as good! Haha.
I went there a few weeks ago to get a few Christmas gifts for some of my aunts. The selection is wonderful and eclectic, from jewelry to homewares, quirky gifts to bath soaps and candles. I’d almost be impossible to leave this market empty-​handed.
Granted, it’s a little tight, but if you are a true New Yorker, you can put up with it. ;-)

I love the holiday season, and there is nothing better than spending time with loved ones at the holiday market.
Are there lots of things that you don’t need? Yes. Did I personally buy anything? No. Did the market successfully get me in the holiday mood? ABSOLUTELY!
One thing that I regret is having had lunch before coming to the market. The food section smelled incredible, and I could not resist getting a Nutella stuffed churro — delicious!
Come on an empty stomach and explore!

Agree with other reviewers that this is the worst location due to super narrow spacing between stalls, making the slightest crowd feel unmanageable. I often felt I was waiting in line just trying to get through the shops.
Most positive experience here? Raaka chocolates, always a delight — pleasant to deal with and generous with samples. Happily walked away with a bar of coconut milk chocolate.
Least favorite? Probably being sold to by the sea-​from-​the-​dead-​sea hand-​washing people («I’ll tell you what, if you buy, I’ll give you a *special* price»). They were lucky I was looking to buy gifts for extended family in one go.
The food selection seems decent, but why anyone in their right minds would buy food and try to eat at the awkwardly placed tables in the center of an already crowded aisle is beyond me.

Cute holiday market however they keep adding stalls every year and it makes it more and more crowded with less and less space. It feels more like a line for a ride at Disney than a cute holiday market. With so many holiday markets in the city I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit this one. Stick to the one in Bryant Park or Union Square.

Hypes:
— Awesome holiday market in the heart of columbus circle and conveniently located near my apartment.
— No Chewing Allowed — Get this melt in your mouth chocolate at its stall, and if you don’t — make sure you take a sample (or two). This is the third year we went here and its the one good consistent thing we love.
— Empanadas — delicious. Coconut curry chicken was a hit.
— Cute crafts, snow globes, and interesting vendors. Great place to buy overpriced gifts
Gripes:
— The food is aiiight. Nothing out of this world or super unique.
— If i didn’t live so close, I probably wouldn’t make the trek out here unless you have a few more things on your itinerary to do for the day.
— OVERCROWDED. The movement to get from one stall to the next is almost at a standstill.
— NOT ENOUGH SEATS — The picnic benches are not ideal for the many people and definitely not logical for the masses.
Baby tip: Stroller parking leads to stroller road rage in this hood. Bring your carrier instead.

Fairly small, ultra crowded holiday market that sells fabrics, candles, artwork and other tchotchkes. It’s small but some vendors sell some nice things. There’s a small food court with typical food truck fare. Some are fantastic, others are pretty blah. They change it up a bit every year so don’t fall in love with a food vendor because, most likely, they won’t be back next year. It’s not the best place to come in the city during the holidays but you may find something to fill your stocking with.

Not as nice or as many vendors as UnionSquare

Even though this is an UrbanspaceNYC market like the Union Square holiday market I found the vendors to be a bit more original and more reasonably priced. There were definitely some duplicate vendors in both markets but this one is also smaller and more manageable to navigate. I found some cool jewelry vendors and I liked how the food was all in one spot. Though I did like finding Sigmunds at Union Square and they didn’t have that here even though they usually have it at their food markets. It’s a shame it’s not open past xmas eve.

So there are 3 of these «pop-​up» holiday markets in Manhattan. This one as well as the ones at Union Square and Bryant Park. If you must go, just pick whichever one is most convenient with your other plans. There’s really no point to go out of your way for any of them, as they’re all about the same with the same shops. I got dragged to all 3 in the same day, so that was… fun? The one at Bryant Park might have a slight edge would since you can take a couple family photos next to the big-​ish tree and/​or ice skate at the ice rink.

A perfect place to have some fun, try new stufd and international foods plus of course get some gifts! Come here every year and never get tired of this place!

After hitting up all of the holiday markets for the season, it is safe to say that this one is easily the worst.
Most of the good food vendors from the Union Square and Bryant Park Holiday Markets are here, but the eating area here is an absolute mess. The sea of people is an absolutely standstill. It’s impossible to even walk through, let alone try to have any enjoyment eating something.
Aside from that food area, all of the rest of the aisles are barely wide enough to accommodate two lanes of people, leading to even more standing still instead of moving.
One plus here is that they have a booth from Bantam Bagels, the place that sells those little bagel bites on Bleecker Street. One minus here is that that booth is a complete disappointment since all but one of the flavors were sold out.
Don’t bother coming to this overcrowded mess — instead stick with the slightly crowded messes at Union Square or Bryant Park.

The Columbus Circle Holiday Market is a fun spot for those who work around upper Manhattan to browse around various food and craft vendors during their lunch break or when they have some time.
This is a smaller holiday market than the Union Square behemoth, but I think it captures the essence of a holiday market with a lot of the main booths you would find at the Union Square one. There are multiple jewelry booths (some made out of old watch gears), scarves and hats (with cute animals), and of course food!
I ended up getting an adorable ring that looks like a silver belt from one of the jewelry booths. If I lived and cooked, there’s an awesome spice market booth that I would have shopped at. Instead I breathed in the scents for free :) There’s also a leather wallet vendor that had some really cute and classic guys and girls wallets. Also, if I were a kid, I would LOVE the animal winter hats.
Overall, I’d say the Columbus Circle Holiday Market is worth going to if you don’t want to be overwhelmed and have a short lunch break that you want to spend browsing around some booths to buy some holiday presents.
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Fun interesting offerings at this pop-​up market. Jewelry, chocolate, art, gifts of all types, plus lots of food vendors. Lovely way to spend an afternoon.

I’m not an artsy, crafty person, therefore, I do not like paying X amount of $ for items that are sold in these markets. Everything seems overpriced to me because well, I just don’t know how to appreciate all these crafty handmade items. Either way, I enjoy ed walking the Columbus Circle Holiday Market. It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and to get me into the Christmas spirit, nonetheless.
Oh, but something I DID buy. Chocolate! The chocolate, and the $ 5 hot choco from the No Chewing Allowed stand is DIVINE. I spent $ 20 for a box of chocolate truffles, and a mini hot choco, but food is always worth it to me ;).

While I strongly prefer the Union Square Holiday Market, this one also has a lot to offer. I *love* that there’s an outdoor food court area … if I hadn’t just had dinner, I would’ve tried some of the interesting options!
The vendors are great, as usual, but there’s definitely some overlap between Columbus Circle & Union Square (vintage-​ish NYC/​Brooklyn signs, spices, knitted hats, ornaments, etc). I didn’t find any presents here this year, but I did take business cards for some of the artists. There was a lot of really beautiful artwork that will hopefully grace my walls one day.
I’m going back though, & you should too. I can’t wait to see next year’s selection!

This year I have been trying to find unique items for every particular person. It seems to be harder and harder.
Holiday Market at Columbus Circle is one of the places I usually go and hunt for something new, but this year was disappointing. Everything looked the same, specially jewelry, There wasn’t much handmade stuff or things that were made in the states. A lot of them were a tad overprice for things that was not even original.
Got some Cute hats with the animal printings on it that cost me about $ 30 — $ 50 each. Truffles from No chewing allow were my best finds, Jewelry that was more organic, natural looking (got one for myself). And of course Soaps.
Hope to see you next year with better items!

Celebrating the holidays means visiting the holiday markets and having hot apple cider, or gluhwein, munching on gingerbread men, and sampling special chocolates and od’ing on hot chocolate. this market has all of these things with the advantage of taking a romp in central park to burn off those extra calories. you can also rent a bike from nearby bike and roll.
They have a good food section containing Sigmunds, newyorkina, wafels and dinges, mexicue, fat beagle, charlitos cocina, la sonrisa empanadas, bar suzette, Mrs. Dorsey grilled cheese, mmm enfes, mayhem and stout, la crêpe and red basil thai kitchen, spices and tease and ferrara bakery. if you want to easily find the food area go to the first double arched lamppost from the cross walk with the red no standing any time sign and walk all the back down that aisle and you should find the food stands. there is one or two benches you can sit at.
I actually spotted my much sought after garlic parsley pretzel from sigmund’s and la newyorkina doesnt have their ice pops bc its too cold but they do have different candy brittles. if you wander around more you can find other various goodies.
i like the tea selection at spices and tease and try the jams at the Jam Stand they have a funky banana one and the macarons at the crafted cookie and also try a sample of the pressed chocolates at rogue confections. brooklyn charm stand has cute little charms that you can mix and match for very cheap.
if you have time it would be a nice cheap date activity but otherwise if you are in the area and want to kill time for an hour you can browse all of the stalls.