Brooklyn’s inaugural ‘Winter Village’ bashed for unworthy entry fee: ‘There’s just not enough to do’

A Brooklyn neighborhood’s first “winter village” opened this weekend and quickly disappointed customers who had to pay a cover fee to get in, only to find a scattering of a few lackluster vendors.

The inaugural “Williamsburg Winter Village” at the BK Backyard Bar is a near carbon copy of the booming and free pop-up holiday markets in Bryant Park and Union Square — except the outer-borough version charges customers as much as $12 just to step inside and hosts far fewer sellers.

Each entry ticket — which costs $10 in cash, $11.50 online, or $12.39 by card — allows for three hours of shopping before the next wave of shoppers can cycle through, according to its website.

But holiday shoppers said there are simply too few things to see and do at the pop-up, which features just 17 vendors.

“There’s just not enough to do. You try everything and you’re out in an hour,” one attendee, Gabe, 27, told The Post.

“I think fewer people will come to this because you have to pay. I don’t think it was worth the entry fee. It’s pretty small. You can’t spend a long time here. One benefit is it’s less crowds…which is kinda nice, but I can’t see this lasting,” his girlfriend, 25-year-old Ava of the East Village, added.

The couple had each purchased a $7 hot chocolate from one of the vendors soon after wedging their way inside the Williamsburg Winter Village market — which is actually located in Greenpoint, north of Williamsburg.

They said they’d return only if the village was free or the entry cost was dropped to $3 to $5.

Other attendees had similar reactions.

“$10 feels a bit much for the size of the market,” said attendee Aparna Nagaraj, a 38-year-old software engineer and Williamsburg resident. 

Another Williamsburg local Trishiet Ray quipped to The Post, “We can just take the L train to Union Square, and that one is free.”

The market garnered roughly 600 attendees on Friday, which was the opening day, but that interest seemed to boom on Saturday as the space was flooded with upwards of 3,000 people, according to Jeremy Seaman, the producer of the Williamsburg Winter Village.

The outdoor venue has a maximum capacity of roughly 1,200 people, so the entry tickets are a way to prevent overcrowding, according to Seaman.

“We really want to do crowd control. We don’t want there to be long lines and have it be shoulder to shoulder. We want to create a great environment for the attendees,” Seaman told The Post.

On Sunday afternoon, about 50 people waited in a line trailing down half a block to get inside.

Seaman also said the entry fee helps his market’s vendors offer lower prices compared to those featured in its Manhattan counterparts.

“A hot chocolate here is $7. You go to Bryant Park or Union Square, it’s $15. You’re paying a small fee to get in the door, but then you end up saving money on all the items,” he said.

“It’s $10 at the end of the day. You end up saving money with all the items and everything you purchase here,” he added.

One market-goer appreciated the downsizing compared to the claustrophobic, tourist-filled holiday markets in Manhattan.

“I think it’s reasonable. It’s less crowded. I like a lot of the vendors,” Nagaraj’s pal Jess Torgovnik, a 27-year-old mental health counselor from Manhattan, told The Post.

“It’s very charming, the decorations. It’s whimsical,” she added.

“I think all the vendors are good. The vendor prices are reasonable,” Nagaraj said.

Other organizers backing the market include influencer agency Nue Mvmnt, travel website Bucket Listers, and food influencer ‘The Carboholic’ — who faced some online backlash over the entry fee.

The holiday site’s corporate sponsors include Coca-Cola and Kahlua x Dunkin’, while its rotating vendors include Breads Bakery, pastry chef Daniel Colonel, Gnoccheria and City Bakery’s The Color of Chocolate by Maury Rubin.