Christmas markets in France and Germany are already being set up, but in several cities such as Paris, the lights will go out much earlier than usual, to save energy.
Due to the energy crisis, European countries are also making cuts in the Christmas markets, several of which this year have decided not to install the favorite ice rinks where young and old are used to skating during the festive season.
Christmas markets in France and Germany are already being set up, but in several cities such as Paris, the lights will go out much earlier than usual, to save energy.
The city of Tours in western France will replace its popular outdoor Christmas ice rink with a roller rink. Maintaining the rink had cost the private operator €15,000 in electricity bills in 2020 and €7,500 last year.
“It seemed a bit of an aberration to have an outdoor ice rink when the temperature here at Christmas has been 10-15 degrees Celsius for a number of years,” said Martin Cohen, deputy mayor for energy and environment. “It doesn’t seem to make sense to keep ice, whatever the cost, just to keep the Christmas feeling.” he added, according to the Guardian website.
Cities in France “must accept that Christmas is no longer the image of snow, ice and big Christmas trees. We’ll keep what we can because we need the magical, festive side of Christmas, but some elements need to evolve.” he added.
The city of Mulhouse, in eastern France, invoked the French government’s directive to reduce energy consumption to avoid blackouts this winter. Its Christmas tree used to be lit every day from 10am “to create atmosphere”, will now be lit at 5pm along with the city’s Christmas lights.
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