Growing up in the US and living there until 2000, I'm used to elaborate lighting displays, but not to the downtown booths seen in northern European cities. Are the people who sell from them local (the stands with local hot drinks and sausages sound local) or gypsies of some sort, as you suggest? And where do the booths go when Christmas is over?
Here are some shots from the Christmas market in Brussels a few weeks ago. I saved them 3000x2000 so I'll just include links:
here and
here.
scott
In addition to what Asher already said, I can add that in our country Christmas markets are not a widely spread thing. In terms of geography, it is not a small country. But the population is very small, only about 5 million. This makes our towns small and any such venues usually economically unsound. So, only the major cities can hold Christmas markets.
Christmas markets are a big thing in German speaking countries (and, I believe, in the Baltic states). So, many of the folks are actually German. They travel around Finland and other Nordic countries from one fair to another, although I think some are local by marriage or some other reason. There are, however, also Finnish merchants working at the market. Also various societies and such have their booths at these markets.
I believe the city of Tampere owns the booths and rents them for different occasions, held at the Market square.