Winterval Festival returns to Waterford this Christmas with over 100 food and craft stalls

Fiona Frawley

The festival kicks off on the 17th of this month.

If your Halloween pumpkins have had their day and been dutifully transformed into risotto and soup, you may already be looking ahead towards the next festive season. Luckily, you won’t have to wait too long to get into the spirit – Winterval, Ireland’s largest Christmas festival returns to Waterford this month with over 100 food, craft and drinks producers and creators set to feature.

The Winterval Glenveagh Market will be set out in a series of wooden cabins, fulfilling your traditional festive fantasies with stalls from local, regional and national producers nestled amongst the sparkly Christmas atmosphere Winterval attendees know and love.

The Winterval Festival in 2022, photo by Patrick Browne.

On offer you’ll find food and drink from the likes of Farm Hog Roast, Rom’s Crepes, and Huckleberry Churros, plus a range of creations and gift options from Woodturning by Ian, Rosie’s Bags, Perfume Espana, Magda Webner Studios and Funky Geeks. Meanwhile at the Waterford Cultural Quarter Crafts Market also on Hanover Street, you’ll find a variety of crafts and treat, from woollen products to wood carvings, paintings to driftwood creations and jewellery all produced by a range of diverse cultures, including African, Polish, German, Ukrainian and Bulgarian creators.

The festival will officially begin on November 17th at 5pm with a gigantic Christmas Parade rolling through Waterford city, and Santa Claus arriving to switch on the City’s Christmas lights.

Image via Winterval Festival.

In terms of family friendly activities you’ve got the ice rink on the city’s Quayside, vintage fairground rides, the Port of Waterford Eye and the Winterval mini Express train, the Elf workshops, Polish Christmas, a Gerbola Christmas Circus, Santa’s VR sleigh ride, and helicopter trips with Santa to name a few.

Santa will be taking centre stage at the festival in the city’s heart on Michael Street, and then setting up camp in his candy-filled Gingerbread House in the city centre for the duration of the festival.

Winterval 2022 scenes, photo by Patrick Browne.

The free events on the programme include a gigantic and magical talking postbox, a GLOW garden, an incredible Winterval Illuminates light show, a Viking Elf trail hunt, a Viking Yule Village by Deise Medieval, storytelling sessions, a free music stage, a model circus, fairground exhibition and lots more.

Winterval runs in Waterford City from November 17th to December 23rd. For more info, head to the event website.

Header image via Patrick Browne/Winterval

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