Council Unanimously Approves Continuing Popular Burlington Holiday Market & Exploring Future Partnership Opportunities
Council unanimously approved continuing our popular Burlington Holiday Market, as our meeting on Feb. 14.Here is the full motion that was approved:
- Direct the Director of Recreation, Community and Culture to approve the continuation of the Burlington Holiday Market contingent on the alignment with the annual Santa Claus Parade and address concerns expressed around the areas that are prone to high winds creating a wind tunnel within the event footprint; and
- Direct the Deputy Mayor of Engagement and Partnerships to work in collaboration with the City Manager or delegate to explore and report back on partnership opportunities for the Burlington Holiday Market.
View the staff report and related appendix here:
- Staff report: RCC-02-23 Burlington Holiday Market
- Appendix: RCC-02-23 Appendix A 2022 BDBA Support Letter Winter Holiday Market
MY TAKE:The two-year trial of the Burlington Holiday Market has shown it to be a great success and very popular with residents and visitors. I’m glad to see Council was unanimous in its support of the continuation of this event – I think the Holiday Market has a great future in our community.
• • •
BACKGROUND:Council approved the application for a new event called Burlington Holiday Market in September 2021 under report number RCC-12-21 for a two-year period (2021 and 2022) with a request to provide a follow-up report and provide metrics on the event’s overall impacts in year’s one and two.Staff provided the first follow-up report in March of 2022 (RCC-03-22) and Council provided further direction as follows:Receive and file recreation, community and culture department report RCC-03- 22 providing follow-up information on a new event launched in December 2021 called Burlington Holiday Market; and Direct the Director of Recreation, Community and Culture to report back in February 2023 on the economic impact of local business, cultural impact, and parking/active transportation impact of theBurlington Holiday Market.The second Burlington Holiday Market was held on Thursday, December 8 through Sunday, December 11, 2022 (including set-up and tear-down time) and was anchored in Parking Lot 1 (431 Elizabeth Street) as well as utilized the Elgin Promenade and the new Promenade expansion (431 Pearl Street) that connects Lot 1 to the Centennial Trail and included the use of Civic Square.The chart below compares pedestrian data from 2021 to 2022. Of note, in 2021 restrictions were in effect for indoor gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Burlington Holiday Market | 2022 | 2021 | |
| Each weekend is defined as Thursday to Sunday | Pedestrian traffic total* | Pedestrian traffic total* | Notes |
| Previous weekend | 1,754 | 1,592 | Event Dates:2022: Dec. 1-4, 8-11, 15-182021: Dec. 2-5, 9-12, 16-19 |
| Market weekend | 7,266 | 12,443 | |
| Post-market weekend | 1,621 | 1,793 | |
| The area measured saw the traffic count increase | 414% | 782% | increase over previous weekend |
| 448% | 694% | increase over following weekend | |
| * Traffic count includes pedestrians and cyclists. | |||
After two consecutive years for Burlington’s Holiday Market and based on the data reported along with there being no major issues or concerns arising from residents or local businesses, staff recommended that the event move forward if organizers continue to apply to host if there are no major changes or other impacts added like the introduction of any road closures or other such matter that would require a public consultation process. Staff also ask that organizers consider the feasibility of scheduling the event one week sooner to coincide with the annual Santa Claus Parade held in the downtown.