At a glance...
Visiting the Finnish Church Christmas market: practical information
Address: 33 Albion St, SE16 7HZ
How to get there: the nearest tube stations are Rotherhithe (Overground) or Canada water (Overground, Jubilee line). From Rotherhithe, cross the road at the traffic lights to the left, walk to the side of the Nisa supermarket (Old Railway Walk) and then turn right.
When: over 2 weekends in late November and early December. In 2024, this is 29 Nov-01 Dec and 06-08 Dec.
All info on the Finnish Christmas Fair page.
How much: a voluntary admission fee of £1.
Finnish Church website: https://britannia.merimieskirkko.fi/en/
What’s the Finnish Church Christmas market like?
If I had to sum the Finnish Church Christmas market in one word, that word would be delightful. It was my first visit, and I didn’t know what to expect, but I ended up having a wonderful, wonderful time.
But, oh wow, there’s a queue to get in! Didn’t expect that. Let’s go for a wander around the neighbourhood and see if people are still queuing when I come back.
[One hour later]
Yep. Still a queue. Oh well. Let’s join the queue, then. At least it seems to move reasonably fast.
And indeed, it doesn’t take too long before getting inside. The space is very crowded, but the atmosphere is full of good cheer. There’s red and green everywhere, and a straw …is that a reindeer? It very possibly is a reindeer. Somebody is playing the piano and somebody else is singing, no canned Christmas music here.
There’s grocery and booze to take home, and several Christmas stalls, with more Christmas stalls on the mezzanine. I spotted lots of knitwear, some of it hand-knitted (loads of socks!), some of it of a more contemporary design, like the beautiful scarves from Leena Charles, as soft and cuddly as a marshmallow topped hot chocolate. I loved the wonderfully quirky London maps by Eerika Omiyale, like this one of London bridge.
The grill and the café were doing a roaring trade, but that would have involved more queuing, so I passed on getting a cinnamon bun. I’ll be back, though.
Bonus for lovers of mid-century architecture: the building is beautiful. It was built in 1958 (its architect was Cyrill Mardall-Sjöström) and is a perfect example of the elegance and gracefulness of the architecture of that period.
If you want to experience a London Christmas Market, but don’t fancy any of the big ones, the Christmas Market at the Finnish Church is definitely worth having on your radar.
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Want more Christmas Spirit? Why not visit the Museum of the Home and its Christmas rooms?
