Disenchanted, Overcharged Holiday Bazaars Lose Their Spark

Jan 3 , 2026. By SURAFEL MULUGETA ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )

The experience at the Addis Abeba Exhibition Centre and Millennium Hall bazaars uncovered difficulties facing vendors who hope to leverage the busy holiday season to boost sales. While bazaars offer an opportunity to meet customers face-to-face, the realities of high rental costs, limited visitors' traffic, and growing competition from online marketplaces are forcing many sellers to reconsider their approach, reports SURAFEL MULUGETA, FORTUNE STAFF WRITER

Among the rows of decorated stalls at the Christmas holiday bazaar held at the Addis Abeba Exhibition Centre near Mesqel Square, newlywed Ekram Sofian sits behind her booth, carefully arranging jars of homemade butter. Every stage of the process, from preparation to packaging, is handled by Ekram and her family.

The holiday bazaar marks Ekram's first attempt at selling in a physical market space. However, as the days pass, the experience has fallen short of her expectations as she watches visitors pass her booth without stopping.

"The organisers told us the traffic will grow when the holiday gets closer," she told Fortune.

The Christmas and New Year holiday bazaars in Addis Abeba have evolved into contested market spaces, marked this year by a confluence of rising costs, shifting consumer behaviour, and perceived lapses in event promotion.

Ekram arrived at the bazaar 20 days before the holiday, stacking jars of butter neatly on her small display table. Sales, however, had been disappointing last week. Unlike many vendors inside the Exhibition Centre, she does not operate a permanent shop. Her business functions mainly online, where she sells processed butter through social media platforms. On her TikTok channel, Kbenda, with 2,000 followers, a kilogram of butter sells for 1,000 Br. The price in the online market includes delivery to the buyer's location.

"I do my business online," she said. "When I came here, my thought was to have the customer-handling experience and to sell directly to customers."

Her booth, a small cube located outside the main Exhibition Centre, cost her more than 100,000 Br for a 23-day rental period. Each jar contains one kilogram of butter, priced at 500 Br at cost.

At the bazaar, customer traffic was not as much as Ekram had promised. She blames insufficient promotion.

"Many people don’t know there is a bazaar here," she told Fortune.

Her concern is echoed across the Exhibition Centre.

The bazaar hosts more than 350 vendors, including participants from around 10 countries such as Turkey and India. Major sponsors include Telebirr, and Coca-Cola.

Alemtsehay Beza, another vendor at the bazaar, displayed decorations, including packaged crosses and Christmas gift items from a nearby booth. She participated in the New Year bazaar at the same location four months ago and found the situation familiar.

"I held the same place for the New Year bazaar," Alemtsehay said.

The difference is the rental fee for the booth, 25,000 Br more for the holiday this year. For Alemtsehay, the fee increase was not unexpected but manageable, after paying in advance two-thirds of it. What troubles her more is the lack of customer flow.

"It's been a week since we got here, and we're not selling as much as we hoped," she told Fortune. "Now our only hope is to get enough business to cover the rent cost. The rest I can handle."

Alemtsehay rented the booth for 24 days, until the eve of Christmas. She has sold holiday decorations at the Exhibition Centre for more than three years, participating in nearly every major holiday bazaar.

As sales slowed last week, she returned to online platforms, offering delivery services at the same prices. The cross package she used to sell online for 8,000 to 10,000 Br. At the bazaar, the price dropped to 6,800 Br. Selling at the bazaar allows her to buy décor items directly from importers, reducing costs and enabling discounts.

"When it’s in the bazaar, I get the products straight from the importers," she said. "That saves some cost, so I sell with a discount."

Alemtsehay would like to see organisers improve promotion and engage consumers, and allow vendors to recover at least their rental costs.

The Christmas holiday bazaar at the Addis Abeba Exhibition Centre, which opened on December 13, 2025, is organised by Dasoma Trading Plc and marks the company’s first attempt to host such an event. Dasoma plans to remain in the business long term and secured the venue with a 9.3 million Br bid.

According to Abrham Gizaw, communications and media officer at Dasoma Trading, the bazaar offers convenience for vendors and visitors.

"Our idea is to bring what customers want into one place," he told Fortune. "From coffee to furniture, from hair oils to clothes, we want to provide what is needed at affordable prices."

Abrham claims the company fulfilled its promises by offering market access and conducting promotions.

"We did what we promised," he said. "We provided a marketplace with customers, and we did advertising through radio, television programmes, and online platforms."

Concerns over customer turnout extend beyond the Exhibition Centre, which is scheduled to close on January 6, 2026, with a lottery draw for a BYD electric vehicle based on entrance ticket numbers. Across the city, vendors at other holiday bazaars have similar experiences.

At the Millennium Hall bazaar, on Africa Avenue (Bole Road), Yordanos Gizachew stood behind her display of leather bags, hoping to attract shoppers. A mother of one, she supports her husband, who operates a car wash business. She sells leather bags online through a Telegram channel, Bubus Pure Leather Bags, which has more than 150 subscribers. For the holiday bazaar, she brought bags priced between 1,000 Br and 6,500 Br, products she sold for more than 8,000 Br.

"But here, because delivery is not part of it, I sell them with good discounts," she told Fortune.

Yordanos rented the same U-shaped booth at the New Year bazaar four months ago for 60,000 Br, the same price she paid last year, and participated in the same bazaar.

"But the customer traffic is not as much as I remember it,"  Yordanos said.

She rented the booth for 15 days and is now midway through the event, with sales still slow. It did not help her and other vendors that the Millennium Hall had another event, which made them lose a day of the market. Still, she believed the lack of promotion was the main issue.

"It isn't done well enough," Yordanos told Fortune. "The number of customers coming here is not many. They say the market will grow when the holiday is near, but I think even a week before, the market should be more alive."

Other vendors at Millennium Hall, like Fikerte Mamo, who owns Fiker Kids Clothing, shared that view.

"I think it’s because the promotions aren't the same as they used to be," she said. "Lately, the ads aren't reaching the audience. Even my friends are unaware that the event is happening."

Fikerte has participated in Millennium Hall bazaars for more than four years and admits business has slowed this time around. She joined holiday bazaars to reach broader audiences beyond her shop in the Kolfe Qeranio District near the Bethel area, slightly increasing her prices to cover rental costs. Although the rental fee for the booth, 70,000 Br, remained unchanged from the New Year bazaar, she observed that fees have dropped compared to last year’s Christmas bazaar, when the same spot cost 95,000 Br.

"But the customers are also not the same as they used to be," Fikerte, who is one of the 250 vendors, told Fortune. "Customers need to understand that a bazaar is not about discounts. It’s about getting everything in one place."

The Millennium Hall bazaar is organised by Barok Event Organiser Plc, incorporated five years ago, which has won the bid to host events at the venue for five consecutive years. This year’s bazaar, with a 100 Br entrance fee for visitors, is organised in partnership with Queens Supermarket, a subsidiary of MIDROC Ethiopia, offering discounts on fruits and vegetables, and Omar, which provides discounted cooking oil. Sponsors include Dashen Bank and Enat Bank.

According to Mekonnen Assefa, a former UN security officer and one of the six shareholders now managing Barok Event Organiser, the bazaar, open from December 24 to January 6, is progressing as expected.

"Usually, bazaars don’t have many customers in the first week," he told Fortune. "When the holiday gets closer, the traffic grows."

Visitors attending the bazaars voiced mixed views. Trusew Atalay, a widow with two children, was buying ceramic plates and pots at the Exhibition Centre.

"I only come to these bazaars on holidays," she said. "I know what I need, I can find it in one place."

However, prices are not always lower. Some products are actually more expensive than outside markets, such as the ceramic plate Trusew paid 1,500 Br.

"The vendor said it was discounted, but I’m sure in Merkato it’s less," she told Fortune.

She made the purchase nonetheless.

For Tariku Asmelash, a father of two, his visit to the Exhibition Centre last week was not planned. Expecting an entrance fee no more than 50 Br, he nonetheless paid four times more. He bought a hoodie for his 19-year-old daughter for 1,700 Br.

"We didn’t even hear there was a bazaar happening here," he said. "We're passing through and saw it."

Melaku Beharu, CEO of Berry Advertising Plc, believes differing expectations shape perceptions of bazaars. When vendors arrive at bazaars with high costs, they expect a large market.

"But if promotion fails to adapt to the times, customer numbers will continue to decline," he told Fortune.

He blamed outdated advertising formats that had remained unchanged for more than 10 years.

"A loud background, a deep voice announcing what is happening and where. But the audience is no longer the same," Melaku told Fortune. "The trend is changing very fast. Organisers need to understand the time and create advertisements that hold consumers’ attention."

But Melaku also attributed low traffic to the high cost of living, constraining spending.

"Everything is expensive these days," he said. "People are struggling with daily life. Holiday spending is becoming a luxury many can’t afford. People prefer a happy hour with friends for one night rather than buying products that last longer."

For Ekram, Alemtsehay, and Yordanos, the hope remained that business would pick up as the holidays drew nearer. But with rising costs and the uncertainty that defines the consumer taste and affordability, the future of the city’s holiday bazaars appears less confident than ever. The crowded stalls, the eager anticipation, the colourful decorations, and the lively performances all mark a festive season that should promise opportunity. But beneath the surface, there is a growing recognition that without a broader reach and perhaps a new approach to connecting with the city’s changing consumers, the bazaar tradition could fade soon.

PUBLISHED ON Jan 03,2026 [ VOL 26 , NO 1340]