A very important Christmas tradition is returning to Smithfield Market this year. Here’s what it’s all about.
Good news meat lovers and bargain hunters, Smithfield Market’s famed Christmas auction is making a triumphant return for 2023.
Visiting the market is one of our favourite activities around the Christmas period and something of a tradition among the families of some of the folk on our team.
It’s sadly been missing from our calendars over the last few years (thanks Covid) and to be honest, we were starting to worry if we’d ever see it again since it was announced that Smithfield Market would be shutting up shop and relocating to the city’s fringes.
That’s not happening until 2028 though, so it looks like we might still have a few more years at this classic location ahead of us yet.
If you want to catch the auction it’s happening this year on Saturday 23rd December at 10am.
So What Goes Down?
To put it simply: a spectacle of meat salesmanship like no other. People genuinely come here just to watch the scene unfold.
Butchers from the market flog their stock in an auction that has people waving their cash in the air and hollering for legs of lamb, turkeys and steaks – much of which is then flung over the crowd to the highest bidder.
It’s a tradition that goes back to the days before the fridge was a common household item and meat would need to be bought as close to the day you wanted to eat it as possible.
If you’re willing to risk looking a fool by dropping a set of rack of ribs, and if you’ve got a voice loud enough you can actually pick up quite the bargain.
The meat is also good-quality stuff, fresh off the butcher’s table. Be warned though – that does mean it’s not always the picturesque cut you’d get from the supermarket. The squeamish need not apply.
Practical Information
Where: Smithfield Market, Grand Ave, London EC1A 9PS
When: Saturday 23rd December at 10am
