Watch: A preview of WinterFest at George Square as the festive hub returns for 2024

WinterFest has returned to George Square for its second year, bringing a festive hub to the city centre complete with twinkly lights, Christmas trees, market stalls, an ice rink, food and drink, funfair rides, and occasionally even live music. Following a delay in its launch due to Storm Bert the area is now officially open to the public until 5 January.

While the Edinburgh rendition has firmly established its identity over the past decade, Glasgow’s Christmas affair has taken slightly longer to find its feet. It’s went through a series of operators and George Square’s event initially struggled to return following the pandemic. However, last year the contract was awarded to local firm M&N Events who have been determined to deliver consistently and affirm WinterFest as an annual fixture.

We spoke to Montana Thomson who’s part of the M&N team who told us what attendees can expect this year and how her family’s company built up to host Glasgow’s festive hub:

“We’ve got traditional pieces - we’ve got the vintage carousel, the Wave Swinger, the Big Wheel. And then we’ve got some thrill rides - we’ve got the Booster Maxx, that’s 60 metres with high velocity speed. And then we’ve got this rock tower, it’s 80 metres tall, it’s the only ride in the UK of this similar stature. I went on it twice on Sunday and it was phenomenal. We’ve got a couple of kids rides in the corner including a helter skelter and different variations of stalls, food, crafts, the bar, the ice skating.

“M&N Events was started by my mum and her sister. They started around 2010 selling personalised decorations in the Forge shopping centre. Christmas markets never used to be a massive thing like they are now, I feel like now they’re everywhere. Me and my mum were in the town doing our Christmas shopping and we walked through the St Enoch’s markets and my mum said ‘there’s a few stalls here I’m going to see if I can get the decorations in’, and then she did and that’s where they built from.

“In 2013 they went to Edinburgh Christmas markets in St Andrew’s Square. Because we’ve attended so many as traders we had this idea that Glasgow was always the goal. My mum and her sister and all of our families have worked so hard to get here. When we got it last year and were successful with the tender it was just amazing, a really overwhelming feeling. Putting on your own Christmas markets is great, it’s stressful but we love it.”