Southbank Christmas Market 2016 brought wooden food chalets, fairground lights and a large Scandinavian-inspired cider lodge to the riverside beside Southbank Centre. This Roberts London archive film records an evening walk through the market on 27 November, moving from the Thames and London Eye to street food and the two-storey Rekorderlig Cider Lodge.

A Christmas market beside the Thames

The Queen’s Walk is familiar as one of London’s busiest riverside routes, but the winter market changed its character after dark. Temporary wooden chalets followed the promenade near the Royal Festival Hall, their warm lighting set against the Thames and the wider city skyline.

The film approaches through central London before reaching the South Bank. The London Eye, bridges and riverside buildings remain visible throughout, grounding the market in its setting. It is not an enclosed event: commuters, visitors and evening walkers all pass through the same public space.

Street food at the winter market

Food is central to the 2016 recording. Menus advertise roast potatoes, sausage, bratwurst and other winter favourites, while the stalls also reflect London’s broader street-food culture. The selection gives the market a less formal atmosphere than a department-store Christmas display: dishes are ordered at the counter and eaten while walking through the lights and crowds.

The film pauses at the stalls to inspect the menus and try a freshly prepared dish. Those close views of chalkboards, trays and serving counters make the footage a useful record of how the Southbank market looked and operated during that particular season.

The Rekorderlig Cider Lodge

The most distinctive temporary structure was the Rekorderlig Cider Lodge. The winter pop-up opened on 11 November 2016 and remained on the South Bank into January 2017. Built across two levels, it combined bars, sheltered seating and an outdoor terrace overlooking the market.

Its Scandinavian styling connected the Swedish cider brand with the wider winter setting. Hot and cold cider drinks, fire pits and seasonal food made the lodge a destination in its own right rather than simply another market stall. From outside, the large red-and-white structure and illuminated rooftop sign were easy to recognise along the riverside.

The lodge opened from late morning into the evening, staying later on Fridays and Saturdays. Its position close to the market entrance meant the terraces remained visually connected to the promenade, while the enclosed areas offered some shelter from a cold or wet London night.

The wider winter market continued the South Bank tradition of combining seasonal entertainment with food and drink beside major cultural venues. Unlike a purpose-built fairground, it occupied an everyday pedestrian route, allowing the temporary event and ordinary London movement to overlap.

A South Bank winter evening in 2016

The final part of the film returns to the river. Reflections, illuminated attractions and the dark Thames provide a quieter counterpoint to the food stalls and fairground colour. It is this combination of a public riverside walk, temporary Christmas structures and familiar London landmarks that gives the footage its character.

Recorded on 27 November 2016, the video preserves a seasonal installation that disappeared after the winter. The chalets would return in later forms, but the specific menus, lighting and Rekorderlig lodge belong to this moment in the South Bank’s history.