With the welcome break from the rains, it was time for some much awaited Christmas cheer with the annual Marché de Noël (Christmas market) organised by the social group Amicale de Pondichery on Sunday.
Christmas markets are a tradition which goes back many centuries in Europe, and Puducherry with its significant expatriate population and French residents has been having its own version for quite a few years at the Lycee Francais campus.
This time, the venue was the sea-facing Maison Colombani of the Alliance Francaise with 42 stalls, including those by 15 NGOs from Puducherry and surrounding regions.
The good weather on Sunday was the added bonus.
“Maison Colombani proved to be the perfect venue. With its garden and open area, there was space for children to play, and people could take a break and relax. It was nice to see more Indians also coming to the market this time around,” said Nathalie Blondeau of Amicale de Pondichery, the main organiser of the event.
The market was a boost to local businesses with stalls selling handicrafts, food, clothes, Christmas gifting options, decorations and knick knacks. It drew around 1000 people, said Ms. Nathalie.
There was also a lucky draw with gifts by restaurants Satsanga, Le Chateau and Mango Hill, among others.
Among participating stalls at the market was Sita Cultural Centre with products from its in-house store Sitakadai. The market was an opportunity to introduce guests to the centre’s activities, said Camille and Isabel Van Klink of Sita Cultural Centre. So they had cooking kits, kolam kits, paper quill earrings, yoga mats, aprons, Ayurvedic oils, massage oils and cooking oils at their stall.
“Our mehendi stall was quite popular. We had at least 30 people trying it out,” said Ms. Camille.
“The homemade jams and chutneys in the other stalls were good. It was a nice mix of different kind of things,” said Ms. Isabel.
The market has also improved visibility for Amicale de Pondichery. The group’s Facebook page has seen its visitors and ‘likes’ increase, said Ms. Nathalie.
“When I came around a year and a half ago, there were only around 20 members in the group. It started as a small group of teachers of Lycee Francais around 10 years ago. Now there are 75 people,” she said about Amicale de Pondichery which has French residents and Francophones. Many are from the French Consulate, Lycee Francais, the French Institute of Pondicherry, as well as entrepreneurs and families.
“The group welcomes all. So it is an interesting set of different people,” said Ms. Nathalie.
Apart from the Christmas market, the group also holds Easter egg hunt games for children, social gatherings, book readings and barbeque gatherings. The group plans to host a ‘vide grenier’, a garage sale of sorts where people can exchange and buy goods, said Ms. Nathalie.
“Maison Colombani proved to be the perfect venue. It was nice to see more Indians also coming to the market this time around.”
Nathalie Blondeau
Main organiser of the event
