By Morgan Lane
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The annual Christmas Village in Baltimore drew thousands of people to the Inner Harbor this weekend to shop and taste German-inspired goods.
The Christmas Village, which began in 2013, has over 60 vendors who sell their products out of small wooden booths. Since the market gets busy on the weekends, only a few customers at a time can browse in each booth. But the small-business owners don’t seem to mind.
“We really like to be here and then connecting with a variety of different people from different regions,” said Altan Erginkoc, a vendor selling Mosaics.
According to the Christmas Village website, the market is inspired by “Nuremberg’s historic 16th-century Christkindlesmarkt,” which directly translates to “Christ Child Market.” Nuremberg, a city in Germany, is known for its extravagant Christmas market that attracts millions of visitors each year.
Richard Johnson, a Christmas Village staff member, enjoyed being able to see the German-inspired tradition come to life in Baltimore.
“I’m from Germany originally,” Johnson said. “You can see on a day like today, the smells, the ambiance, the people, you know, and we got great merchants here.”
Despite having a taste of Nuremberg, Baltimore street performers maintained the urban culture throughout the village with breakdancing and music.
“It’s more money to make on the streets than it is at gigs. That’s the truth right there,” said Stephon McClellan, a professional break dancer who’s been performing for 13 years.
McClellan and his dancers did several acrobatic tricks involving crowd volunteers. Another performer played the trumpet in a Grinch costume while multiple artists stood like statues dressed in metallic, steampunk-inspired outfits.
Laila Hussain, a visitor from Silver Spring, decided to come back to the event for the second time this season.
“I like it. I love the Grinch, he’s got his little trumpet, he’s killing that,” she said. “We got somebody about to flip over a guy’s head. I love Baltimore.”
The Christmas Village in Baltimore will be open Christmas Eve from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.and is free to the public.