No passport required for 52nd International Bazar

Explore new worlds this winter when the 52nd International Bazar kicks off in Luxembourg, bringing food, beverages and gifts from 60 different countries.

Visitors to the hugely popular annual event hosted at Luxexpo on December 1 and 2 will this year be able to explore new countries with the addition of an Egyptian stall and stalls for the Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The new stands form part of the 65 different stalls, which will this year be spread throughout halls 2 and 3 instead of halls 8 and 9, where the Bazar took place in previous years.

“The new space means that the stands will be perfectly visible because they will be well spread out among the two halls,” explained International Bazar Committee President Marie-Hélène Ehrke-Harf, adding: “For a lot of people the Bazar is about tasting food and drink from around the world. Nearly every stand has home cooked specialist food made by volunteers.”

While the International Bazar is a favourite shopping event for many residents its main goal is to raise funds for worthy causes around the world. Last year, it helped raise more than 500,000 euros, divided among charities including an emergency relief fund helping victims of the Turkish and Italian earthquakes.

This year the organisers have selected 98 projects, with the main beneficiary "Little Plus/Toutes à l'école", a Luxembourgish organisation providing education for young, underprivileged girls at the Happy Chandara school near Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The funds will support the costs of immunising the students and generally providing healthcare. Other projects include an agricultural irrigation programme in India through Dignity asbl and a home building scheme for families living in Mexican favelas through Un Techo para mi Pais.

For a full list of charities and not-for-profit organisations supported, please visit www.bazar-international.lu

Because of the limited number of spaces available and the huge numbers of volunteers required to staff stands, a small number of stalls will be absent this year. These include Morocco and South Africa as well as the "Backstand", selling baked German pastries.

The bazar is open from 11am to 7pm on Saturday and from 10am to 6pm on Sunday. Limited parking is available at Luxexpo but visitors are urged to travel to the bazar by bus. Line 1 will offer a two-way shuttle from the city centre to the exhibition halls every 10 minutes. The last services will run at 7.34pm on Saturday and at 6.33pm on Sunday from Luxexpo.

To find out more, visit www.bazar-international.lu or follow the International Bazar on Twitter and Facebook.